Sermon preached at 11am Choral Mattins at St Mary’s Lapworth on Sunday 27th February 2011. A shorter version was also preached at 8.30am Said Eucharist and at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton, 3pm Evensong.
Second Sunday before Lent, Epiphany 8 (CofE provision) – Year A
Readings: Ps 136: 1-9 Genesis 1: 1-23 Matthew 6: 25-34
Notes only
Creation story from Genesis might have shortcomings as a scientific account of creation, but it makes some important theological points.
First of all – creation comes about through the will of God
“You pour out your spirit and they are created” as the psalmist says.
Secondly - creation is good, in harmony with the will of God. At every step God stands back and says “it is good”.
But if God’s creation is good, where does evil comes from? This is a great mystery, which theologians struggle with. God did create evil. But God gives angels and humans freewill. They really do have freedom to choose, and they can choose to go against God and against his will. This is what evil is – rebellion against God.
Somehow, we don’t quite know how, evil as been sown in amongst the good of creation. The story of Adam and Eve and the fall is one account of this. But Jesus also tells the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt 13: 24-30, 36-43) where the master sows good seed, but an enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat. The separation of good from evil does not come until the end of time (see also parable of the dragnet (Matt 13: 47-50)) when God’s kingdom is realised in a more tangible way.
Thirdly humanity has a special place in creation; it’s pinnacle, created in the image of God; both male and female. God is above male and female – “he” includes both; both are in his image. We have to be very mindful of the special dignity of each human being, created in the image of God.
Then in NT lesson from Matthew Jesus teaches us not to have anxieties about the everyday necessities of life. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and its righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you as well.” So we need to seek first God’s kingdom, that goodness of creation which is separated out from evil at the end of time. We need to move in harmony with God’s will, in harmony with creation, with all that God wills, seeking always what is pleasing to God. And then all these other things are added to us as well.
The collect makes good suggestions:
- See God’s hand in all things
- recognise God’s likeness in all his children
These help us to seek first the kingdom of God.
I would like to illustrate this with a story that a man called Opus told me. It was a long time ago that I was told the story, and I might have the details wrong, but the gist of it is certainly correct.
Opus was tall and well built. He had classical good looks and was stylish in the way he dressed and wore his hair. He was probably a youth in the aftermath of the Second World War, which must have been a time of great austerity. I know he came from a large family, so there can’t have been much money around.
With the aspirations of a young man, his good looks and his strong sense of style, Opus came to realise that he wanted an electric razor. These were not readily available after the war, and were very expensive. However they often featured at the cinema, and for Opus they epitomised the glamour and sophistication of a modern lifestyle. He really, really wanted an electric razor.
Now as a young man Opus started living in a Christian community with perhaps six other young men, seeking to live a gospel lifestyle. There were many such groups about and they were related to one another. In these groups it was important not to be attached to any earthly riches, but always to be ready to give and to receive. The priority was to seek first the kingdom of God by overcoming selfishness and growing in love for the other people.
I don’t recall the details, but on one occasion Opus’s household received some gifts to share. The arrival of gifts was quite common, but what really caught Opus’s attention on this occasion was that one of the gifts was an electric razor! Of course, Opus really wanted the electric razor. However, talking with the other men in the house he realised that the razor was to be set aside someone else who was due to visit the house later that week. Opus really struggled with this. He understood that he had to seek first the kingdom of God, and he had to be ready to lose the razor, to let it go…but it was very, very hard.
In due course the visitor came, was delighted by the gift and took it away with him. The razor was gone, but it took Opus a couple of weeks to get over the resentments and frustrations that he felt about losing the razor. Finally he managed to do it; he became free of his desire, his need, for an electric razor.
Then a couple of weeks after that the household received more gifts, including two electric razors. The passionate need that Opus had felt for an electric razor had gone, but he was delighted to be given one none the less.
Then a little later he was given another electric razor, then later still another, and yet another! He started to constantly receive electric razors from the most varied and unpredictable of places. It became overwhelming. Opus felt that God was rewarding him for seeking first the kingdom of God, but the shear abundance of electric razors was also like God mocking him for the petty nature of his earlier desires. Of course electric razors did eventually became commonplace. Argos stock dozens of different models, starting at £13, and many of them are for women! Still Opus had taken the step of seeking first the kingdom of God, and God had added to him all the other things as well.
Showing posts with label will of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label will of God. Show all posts
27 February 2011
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.
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.
31 August 2008
Taking up our cross and following Christ
Sermon preach at 9.15 Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull
Sunday 31st August 2008, Trinity 15, Proper 17, Year A
Readings: Jeremiah 15:15-21 Romans 12: 9-21 Matthew 16: 21-28
One of my favourite television programmes is “You’ve been framed”. It is a programme where they show funny or embarrassing moments that have been captured on family camcorders. To try and keep people watching the during the advertisement break they often have a, “What happens next?” clip. Last thing before the break they show the start of some clip and you have to guess what happens next. Perhaps you see some lad on a quad bike skilful negotiate some hazard and start to accelerate way. So can you guess what happens next? Somehow you know it will be some kind of disaster. Perhaps he will over do it with the acceleration and the bike will go over backwards? Perhaps he’ll drive straight into a tree? Then after the break you see the second half of the clip. And what happens? Well, another quad bike zooms in from nowhere and knocks him for six. Well we knew it would be something like that, but we did not know exactly what!
This week’s gospel reading is a bit like the second half of a “What happens next?” film clip that we started last week. If you remember last weeks gospel you will remember it recounted a wonderful moment for Peter. He proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus was ever so pleased with Peter. He declared Peter to be the rock on which Jesus would build the Church, and he gave Peter great authority both in heaven and on earth.
And what happened next? Well that’s this week’s gospel. Jesus starts to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed. Well Peter, full of confidence following his great success, marches in and says, “Forbid it Lord, this must never happen to you!” And Jesus is furious. He says, “Get behind me Satan!” Peter must have felt stung to the core.
And what had Peter done wrong? What he said seemed pretty reasonable really. If you have just worked out that someone is the Messiah, the Son of God, you don’t in the next breath agree to let that person be killed by the very people who need him most. But Jesus explains. Peter was “setting his mind not on divine things, but on human things.”
So Jesus accepts that, humanly speaking, Peter’s has a point. But Jesus is not just human, he is also divine. He has come to earth to teach the divine ways to the apostles and to the whole world. He has come to show us the ways of heaven, and the ways of heaven are different from the ways of earth.
Humanly speaking we all want to avoid suffering. We instinctively want fullness of life, and suffering seems like the very opposite of that, it seems like the lose of life, it seems like the road to death. Yet Jesus teaches us the divine ways, and he is very clear. He says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
What does it mean in practice to take up our cross and follow Jesus? Well it means following Jesus through the bad times as well as the good. It means following Jesus in situations of suffering, or hurt, or pain. And it doesn’t matter if the suffering is physical, or emotional or spiritual. It doesn’t matter is the suffering is our own fault or the fault of the people around us, or no ones fault at all. It does not matter if the suffering is large or small. In all cases of suffering the call is the same; to continue to follow Jesus.
And as we think about Jesus carrying his cross to Calvary, and we think of us following with him, each carrying our own little crosses then there are a two ways in particular in which we are asked to follow him.
Firstly we follow Jesus by continuing to do God’s will, even when it is very costly. The gospels tell us about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane praying that the Father might make the cup of poison may pass from him, and yet also praying, “Not what I want, but what you want” (e.g. Matt 26: 39). Following God’s will can be very costly. Sometimes we need to accept something hurtful or discouraging or sad. Sometimes we need to confront people or situations and risk conversations that might be difficult or painful. There can be all kinds of difficult things, but if we follow God’s will, even through sufferings, then we are following Jesus with his cross and sharing on his journey to Calvary.
Secondly we need to continue to love other people, even when we are suffering. Jesus continues to love through his passion. He forgives the people who crucify him. He ministers to the penitent thief. He makes arrangements for St John to take care of his mother. He continues to think about the others, to hope for the others, to see the good in the others, despite the great evil that is done to him.
So this is how we can follow Jesus in our sufferings; by continuing to do God’s will for us, and by continuing to love. And this very often means denying ourselves, giving up on our own plans and aspirations, giving up on our resentments and frustrations, giving up our sense of comfort or of being in control. This is costly, but Jesus is very clear, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
But now for the good news. By denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following Jesus we find that we are bound into a much deeper relationship with Jesus. It is a relationship that becomes deeper and purer and truer as we carry our crosses together. Sometimes we hear war veterans talk of difficult or dangerous situations that they have passed through together. This experience binds them together with a trust and understanding that goes very deep. It is the same with us and Jesus. When we continue to love, and continue to do the will of God through our sufferings we share in a profoundly important experience with Jesus, who loved and did God’s will through his whole passion and death. Jesus starts to share our burdens with us. Our trust and understanding of Jesus grows.
And the news gets even better, because we discover that we are sharing more and more with Jesus. We find we share in the healing and reconciliation that Jesus won for us. Slowly God starts to transform us, and the situations around us, and they start to reflect his peace and his justice and his love.
But the very best news is that when we start to share with Jesus in his sufferings and death, so we begin to share with him in his resurrection, in his newness of life, in his glory (c.f. Romans 6: 5, 8: 17). The risen life of Jesus restores us and makes us whole. It gives us power to hope. We start to share in the eternal life that Jesus promises.
So when sufferings come, let’s follow Jesus by continuing to love and by continuing to do God’s will. In this way we take up our cross and share sufferings with Jesus. In this way too we start also to share in his risen life. Amen.
Sunday 31st August 2008, Trinity 15, Proper 17, Year A
Readings: Jeremiah 15:15-21 Romans 12: 9-21 Matthew 16: 21-28
One of my favourite television programmes is “You’ve been framed”. It is a programme where they show funny or embarrassing moments that have been captured on family camcorders. To try and keep people watching the during the advertisement break they often have a, “What happens next?” clip. Last thing before the break they show the start of some clip and you have to guess what happens next. Perhaps you see some lad on a quad bike skilful negotiate some hazard and start to accelerate way. So can you guess what happens next? Somehow you know it will be some kind of disaster. Perhaps he will over do it with the acceleration and the bike will go over backwards? Perhaps he’ll drive straight into a tree? Then after the break you see the second half of the clip. And what happens? Well, another quad bike zooms in from nowhere and knocks him for six. Well we knew it would be something like that, but we did not know exactly what!
This week’s gospel reading is a bit like the second half of a “What happens next?” film clip that we started last week. If you remember last weeks gospel you will remember it recounted a wonderful moment for Peter. He proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus was ever so pleased with Peter. He declared Peter to be the rock on which Jesus would build the Church, and he gave Peter great authority both in heaven and on earth.
And what happened next? Well that’s this week’s gospel. Jesus starts to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed. Well Peter, full of confidence following his great success, marches in and says, “Forbid it Lord, this must never happen to you!” And Jesus is furious. He says, “Get behind me Satan!” Peter must have felt stung to the core.
And what had Peter done wrong? What he said seemed pretty reasonable really. If you have just worked out that someone is the Messiah, the Son of God, you don’t in the next breath agree to let that person be killed by the very people who need him most. But Jesus explains. Peter was “setting his mind not on divine things, but on human things.”
So Jesus accepts that, humanly speaking, Peter’s has a point. But Jesus is not just human, he is also divine. He has come to earth to teach the divine ways to the apostles and to the whole world. He has come to show us the ways of heaven, and the ways of heaven are different from the ways of earth.
Humanly speaking we all want to avoid suffering. We instinctively want fullness of life, and suffering seems like the very opposite of that, it seems like the lose of life, it seems like the road to death. Yet Jesus teaches us the divine ways, and he is very clear. He says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
What does it mean in practice to take up our cross and follow Jesus? Well it means following Jesus through the bad times as well as the good. It means following Jesus in situations of suffering, or hurt, or pain. And it doesn’t matter if the suffering is physical, or emotional or spiritual. It doesn’t matter is the suffering is our own fault or the fault of the people around us, or no ones fault at all. It does not matter if the suffering is large or small. In all cases of suffering the call is the same; to continue to follow Jesus.
And as we think about Jesus carrying his cross to Calvary, and we think of us following with him, each carrying our own little crosses then there are a two ways in particular in which we are asked to follow him.
Firstly we follow Jesus by continuing to do God’s will, even when it is very costly. The gospels tell us about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane praying that the Father might make the cup of poison may pass from him, and yet also praying, “Not what I want, but what you want” (e.g. Matt 26: 39). Following God’s will can be very costly. Sometimes we need to accept something hurtful or discouraging or sad. Sometimes we need to confront people or situations and risk conversations that might be difficult or painful. There can be all kinds of difficult things, but if we follow God’s will, even through sufferings, then we are following Jesus with his cross and sharing on his journey to Calvary.
Secondly we need to continue to love other people, even when we are suffering. Jesus continues to love through his passion. He forgives the people who crucify him. He ministers to the penitent thief. He makes arrangements for St John to take care of his mother. He continues to think about the others, to hope for the others, to see the good in the others, despite the great evil that is done to him.
So this is how we can follow Jesus in our sufferings; by continuing to do God’s will for us, and by continuing to love. And this very often means denying ourselves, giving up on our own plans and aspirations, giving up on our resentments and frustrations, giving up our sense of comfort or of being in control. This is costly, but Jesus is very clear, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
But now for the good news. By denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following Jesus we find that we are bound into a much deeper relationship with Jesus. It is a relationship that becomes deeper and purer and truer as we carry our crosses together. Sometimes we hear war veterans talk of difficult or dangerous situations that they have passed through together. This experience binds them together with a trust and understanding that goes very deep. It is the same with us and Jesus. When we continue to love, and continue to do the will of God through our sufferings we share in a profoundly important experience with Jesus, who loved and did God’s will through his whole passion and death. Jesus starts to share our burdens with us. Our trust and understanding of Jesus grows.
And the news gets even better, because we discover that we are sharing more and more with Jesus. We find we share in the healing and reconciliation that Jesus won for us. Slowly God starts to transform us, and the situations around us, and they start to reflect his peace and his justice and his love.
But the very best news is that when we start to share with Jesus in his sufferings and death, so we begin to share with him in his resurrection, in his newness of life, in his glory (c.f. Romans 6: 5, 8: 17). The risen life of Jesus restores us and makes us whole. It gives us power to hope. We start to share in the eternal life that Jesus promises.
So when sufferings come, let’s follow Jesus by continuing to love and by continuing to do God’s will. In this way we take up our cross and share sufferings with Jesus. In this way too we start also to share in his risen life. Amen.
01 June 2008
Caring for God's world - climate change
Preached at St Alphege, Solihull at the 9.15am Eucharist.
Sunday 1st June 2008, Trinity 2 – Proper 4 - Year A
A shorter version of this sermon was preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Alphege.
Readings Deut 11: 18-21, 26-28 Romans 1: 16-17, 3:22b-28 Matt 7: 21-29
Throughout Solihull Parish our preaching this morning has a theme of caring for the environment. We are doing this to highlight World Environment Day, which is coming up this Thursday, 5th June. We also have a special display and some further information available in the OBH at coffee squash. Maud Granger of Friend of the Earth will also be available at coffee/squash in the OBH, so we have the opportunity to talk to an expert.
The United Nations designated 5th June as World Environment Day as long a go as 1972. It is well worth having a look at the website of the United Nations Environmental Programme, which looks like this.
[Display Website Home Page: http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/]
This year the theme of World Environment Day is “Kick the Habit – Towards a Low Carbon Economy”, as you can see from the homepage.
But what has concern for the environment got to do with the gospel? We know that we have problems with carbon emissions and climate change, but how does that relate to our being Christians, and to our life as Church? Well I think that are some clues in the gospel reading that we heard today, which, looking at it from a particular perspective, is about sustainable lifestyles. At the start of the gospel reading Jesus tells us that that the really important thing is to order our lives in accordance with God’s will. The person who enters the kingdom of heaven is the one who does God’s will, not the one who cries, Lord, Lord, or even the one who does great things in the Lord’s name. Jesus illustrates this with a story about sustainability. The person who bases his life on following God’s will and on the teaching of Jesus is like a man builds his house on the rock. God is the source of life, so it makes sense to base our lives on the teaching of Jesus. Probably it is hard work to build on the rock, and probably it takes time, but the house is secure. When the time of crisis comes, the house stands firm. For us human beings we think of the ultimate crisis as the death of our earthly bodies, but if our lives are built on the rock they remain secure even through this crisis death. Jesus contrasts this to a man who ignores the teaching of Jesus. This person is compared to a man building his house on sand. Probably is quicker and easier to build, but the house is rapidly destroyed when a crisis comes.
Jesus addresses this parable to each one of us as individual human beings, but it is also applicable to families, communities, societies, nations and indeed to the whole world. Society need to order itself in accordance with the will of God, and in accordance with the teachings of Jesus, in order to be strong, secure and sustainable. And yet sadly we know that many aspects of our comtempory Western culture are far from the will of God, and far from the teaching of Jesus. Many aspects of our society are driven by greed, and selfishness and consumerism. There is often the covetous desire to have the things that our neighbour have. This leads to a society build on sand, a society that is unsustainable and in danger of being washed away.
Let’s go back to World Environment Day and the theme of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. I recently completed a Christian Aid questionnaire that helped me to understand how different aspects of my lifestyle contribute to my personal carbon emissions. I would like to very quickly show you the results:
[Display Fr Gerard carbon emissions:
10 Gas consumed
5 Electricity consumed
2 Use of public transport
16 Use of car
13 Air travel
4 Newspapers
20 Red meat
8 Fruit and veg
8 Other food
6 Furniture/appliances
6 Clothing/footwear
-----
98 …..equivalent to 11 tonnes in a year.
Compared with 10 tonnes UK average,
or with 3 tonnes worldwide average,
or with 2.5 tonnes sustainable world average.]
It is important to realise that these results are very broad brush, but they are still interesting, and certainly give me some pointers on how I might cut down my personal carbon emissions. Clearly the big items are use of a private car, air travel and red meat. Apparently red meat contributes because cows produce lots of methane, which is a very powerful greenhouse gas.
It seems that my personal carbon emissions are just over average for the UK, so I have got some work to do! However the really telling point is that even the average carbon emissions for the UK is still about four times what scientists believe is a sustainable worldwide average. In other words, as a society, we really need to work towards lifestyles that are far, far less dependent on fossil fuels. And it is not just global warming that is telling us this. The high oil prices and fragility of our western economies also make this essential.
When we consider a topic like climate change there is a temptation to become rather despondent. The problem is so huge, and my personal influence over it is so small that I might be tempted to lose heart. But here again the gospel helps us, with its emphasis on the will of God. Whatever we do about climate change let’s first and foremost do it in front of God, and in accordance with the will of God. God created humanity and works for the good of humanity. We can then entrust the problem to God and God will deal with it. I am not saying that the way forward will be free of suffering and difficulty, but I am saying that we need to trust God.
As individuals and as societies we first of all need to live in harmony with God, in accordance with God’s will. Secondly we must live in harmony with each other, loving one another as Jesus taught us with his New Commandment. Thirdly we need to live in harmony with all of creation, with all that God has made to sustain us and for our enjoyment. And let’s remember, Climate change might be a huge problem, but nothing is impossible for God.
Sunday 1st June 2008, Trinity 2 – Proper 4 - Year A
A shorter version of this sermon was preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Alphege.
Readings Deut 11: 18-21, 26-28 Romans 1: 16-17, 3:22b-28 Matt 7: 21-29
Throughout Solihull Parish our preaching this morning has a theme of caring for the environment. We are doing this to highlight World Environment Day, which is coming up this Thursday, 5th June. We also have a special display and some further information available in the OBH at coffee squash. Maud Granger of Friend of the Earth will also be available at coffee/squash in the OBH, so we have the opportunity to talk to an expert.
The United Nations designated 5th June as World Environment Day as long a go as 1972. It is well worth having a look at the website of the United Nations Environmental Programme, which looks like this.
[Display Website Home Page: http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/]
This year the theme of World Environment Day is “Kick the Habit – Towards a Low Carbon Economy”, as you can see from the homepage.
But what has concern for the environment got to do with the gospel? We know that we have problems with carbon emissions and climate change, but how does that relate to our being Christians, and to our life as Church? Well I think that are some clues in the gospel reading that we heard today, which, looking at it from a particular perspective, is about sustainable lifestyles. At the start of the gospel reading Jesus tells us that that the really important thing is to order our lives in accordance with God’s will. The person who enters the kingdom of heaven is the one who does God’s will, not the one who cries, Lord, Lord, or even the one who does great things in the Lord’s name. Jesus illustrates this with a story about sustainability. The person who bases his life on following God’s will and on the teaching of Jesus is like a man builds his house on the rock. God is the source of life, so it makes sense to base our lives on the teaching of Jesus. Probably it is hard work to build on the rock, and probably it takes time, but the house is secure. When the time of crisis comes, the house stands firm. For us human beings we think of the ultimate crisis as the death of our earthly bodies, but if our lives are built on the rock they remain secure even through this crisis death. Jesus contrasts this to a man who ignores the teaching of Jesus. This person is compared to a man building his house on sand. Probably is quicker and easier to build, but the house is rapidly destroyed when a crisis comes.
Jesus addresses this parable to each one of us as individual human beings, but it is also applicable to families, communities, societies, nations and indeed to the whole world. Society need to order itself in accordance with the will of God, and in accordance with the teachings of Jesus, in order to be strong, secure and sustainable. And yet sadly we know that many aspects of our comtempory Western culture are far from the will of God, and far from the teaching of Jesus. Many aspects of our society are driven by greed, and selfishness and consumerism. There is often the covetous desire to have the things that our neighbour have. This leads to a society build on sand, a society that is unsustainable and in danger of being washed away.
Let’s go back to World Environment Day and the theme of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. I recently completed a Christian Aid questionnaire that helped me to understand how different aspects of my lifestyle contribute to my personal carbon emissions. I would like to very quickly show you the results:
[Display Fr Gerard carbon emissions:
10 Gas consumed
5 Electricity consumed
2 Use of public transport
16 Use of car
13 Air travel
4 Newspapers
20 Red meat
8 Fruit and veg
8 Other food
6 Furniture/appliances
6 Clothing/footwear
-----
98 …..equivalent to 11 tonnes in a year.
Compared with 10 tonnes UK average,
or with 3 tonnes worldwide average,
or with 2.5 tonnes sustainable world average.]
It is important to realise that these results are very broad brush, but they are still interesting, and certainly give me some pointers on how I might cut down my personal carbon emissions. Clearly the big items are use of a private car, air travel and red meat. Apparently red meat contributes because cows produce lots of methane, which is a very powerful greenhouse gas.
It seems that my personal carbon emissions are just over average for the UK, so I have got some work to do! However the really telling point is that even the average carbon emissions for the UK is still about four times what scientists believe is a sustainable worldwide average. In other words, as a society, we really need to work towards lifestyles that are far, far less dependent on fossil fuels. And it is not just global warming that is telling us this. The high oil prices and fragility of our western economies also make this essential.
When we consider a topic like climate change there is a temptation to become rather despondent. The problem is so huge, and my personal influence over it is so small that I might be tempted to lose heart. But here again the gospel helps us, with its emphasis on the will of God. Whatever we do about climate change let’s first and foremost do it in front of God, and in accordance with the will of God. God created humanity and works for the good of humanity. We can then entrust the problem to God and God will deal with it. I am not saying that the way forward will be free of suffering and difficulty, but I am saying that we need to trust God.
As individuals and as societies we first of all need to live in harmony with God, in accordance with God’s will. Secondly we must live in harmony with each other, loving one another as Jesus taught us with his New Commandment. Thirdly we need to live in harmony with all of creation, with all that God has made to sustain us and for our enjoyment. And let’s remember, Climate change might be a huge problem, but nothing is impossible for God.
19 February 2007
Creation by God's will
Thought for Pew Slip - Sunday 11th February 2007 – Second Sunday before Lent
Readings Genesis 2:4b-9&15-25 Revelation 4 Luke 8:22-25
Today our reading from Revelation presents us with a vision of heaven. There the elders continually worship God saying, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
It is all too easy for us to get bogged down thinking about scientific mechanisms and lose sight of the underlying reality that all things come into being because God wills them to be. God’s will is the driving force behind all creation. When Jesus, who is God, commands the winds and the waves, they inevitably obey him.
As human beings we achieve the fullest potential of our creation when we move in harmony with what God wills. We have the capacity to sin, that is to go against the will of God, but this undermines our own being. Rather the way to fullness of life is to follow the path that God wills for us. We do this moment by moment in our daily lives. Let’s use the grace that God gives us in each present moment of our lives to be and do precisely what God wants from us in that moment. This way we make our lives a series of many small steps on the pathway to heaven.
Readings Genesis 2:4b-9&15-25 Revelation 4 Luke 8:22-25
Today our reading from Revelation presents us with a vision of heaven. There the elders continually worship God saying, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
It is all too easy for us to get bogged down thinking about scientific mechanisms and lose sight of the underlying reality that all things come into being because God wills them to be. God’s will is the driving force behind all creation. When Jesus, who is God, commands the winds and the waves, they inevitably obey him.
As human beings we achieve the fullest potential of our creation when we move in harmony with what God wills. We have the capacity to sin, that is to go against the will of God, but this undermines our own being. Rather the way to fullness of life is to follow the path that God wills for us. We do this moment by moment in our daily lives. Let’s use the grace that God gives us in each present moment of our lives to be and do precisely what God wants from us in that moment. This way we make our lives a series of many small steps on the pathway to heaven.
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