Living out the Word of God

Short sermon preached at the 8am Eucharist at St Helen’s Church, Solihull
Sunday Second before Lent, RCL readings:

Isaiah 55: 10-13 1 Corinthians 15: 51-58 Luke 6: 39-49

Our readings today include two important similes help us to understand the Word of God and the effects that it has.
First of all we had the beautiful image from Isaiah of God’s Word being like the rain. In the water cycle the rain falls from the sky and eventually it returns to the sky, by evaporation. But this does not happen without the rain watering the earth, so that plants sprout and our food grows. God says that in the same way his Word (and we think of God’s word as God’s message, especially in the coming of Jesus) goes out from God and returns to God, but this does not happen without the Word accomplishing the purposes of God and succeeding in the thing for which God sent him. And just as the rain gives life to plants and makes them grow, so Jesus brings life, eternal life to us, and makes it grow within us. Thanks be to God!
Then in our gospel reading Jesus emphasises the importance of living in accordance with his teaching, his word. He complains that we cry to him “Lord, Lord” but don’t do the things he tells us. He tells us the parable of the house built on rock and the house built on sand to show how his teaching provides a firm foundation for our lives. It is the solid rock on which we can build. Looking from the outside, focusing on the external appearances only, they probably does not seem to be much difference between the house built on rock and the one built on sand. But when the flood rises and the river bursts against them then the crisis separates what is enduring and true from what is transitory and passing.
So the words of Jesus are the secure foundations for our lives and the word of God is like the rain that allows plants to grow. So we must nurture ourselves on the word of God and allow eternal life to grow within us. It is not enough just listen to the word of God, or just read the bible, we have to put the teaching of Jesus into practice in our everyday lives. Now sometimes we struggle to link the teaching of Jesus with our everyday lives. After all Jesus did not leave clear instructions about how often we should vacuum the carpet or the best route for getting to the office in the morning, but Jesus did teach us to love. He taught us to love everyone, even the very least in society, not excluding anyone (Matt 25: 40). He taught us to love even our enemies (Matt 5: 44). He taught us to be the first to love, not waiting for the others to love us, but rather taking the initiative in love (Matt 5:46). And I think when people think about love they sometimes think about pink fluffy bunnies or a liberal sprinkling of rose petals. But these are not helpful images in helping us understand what love is all about. A better image is Jesus on the cross, dying because he has given everything for his brothers and sisters. Another image is the good shepherd, searching after the lost sheep. Another image is the father running to meet the prodigal son and forgiving him. Another image is Gandhi, seeking the good of the British, whilst insisting on Indian independence. Love is about seeking the good of the other, it is about wanting to share the life of heaven with the other person. It is about giving time, attention and resources to help the other. It is about nurture, and patience and gentleness, all the things described in 1 Corinthians 13.
So as we try to put the word of God into practice in our everyday lives, the key opportunities occur every time we encounter another person; every time someone is standing or sitting near us. What is our attitude to that person? Do we ignore them or resent them or experience them as a threat? Do we want their good, seek to help them, serve them, listen to them? It’s a real challenge, but practicing love helps us to grow in love. This is how we grow into eternal life, like plants watered by the rain. This is how we build our lives on firm foundations; foundations that will withstand even the great crisis of death. Let’s pray for the grace to practice and grow in love. Amen.

Receiving eternal life

Sermon preached at St Alphege Church, 9.15am Eucharist
Sunday 23rd August 2009, Trinity 11, Proper 16, Year B

Readings: Joshua 24: 1-2a & 14-18 Ephesians 6: 10-20 John 6: 56-69

One of the great themes of John’s gospel is "Eternal Life". In John, chapter 10, Jesus says, “I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). And this great theme resonates throughout John’s gospel (indeed it resonates throughout the whole New Testament), but it is especially intense in the passage that we heard as our gospel reading today.
But before we look at the gospel let’s pause for a moment to reflect on what John means when he talks about eternal life. Certainly he is looking at life that goes far beyond the 70 or 80 years that we might hope for as an earthly life. He speaks of eternal life, the life that survives death, the life that endures for ever. And we are not talking here of a life of monotony, a dreary life, like a prison sentence to be endured. We are talking of the fullness of life in all it beauty and all its wholeness. Elsewhere in the gospel he describes it as the life that is the light of humanity (John 1: 4), the life which is like a rich harvest (c.f. John 4: 36), the life free from condemnation (John 5: 24), the life which never perishes (John 10: 28), the life that comes with the knowledge of God (John 17: 3). Perhaps by “knowledge of God”, we might understand, “full relationship with God”.
And today’s gospel reading is especially concerned with how we receive this eternal; life that Jesus wants to share with it. It is concerned with where it comes from and what we have to do to get it! And we need to be careful to understand what it means to receive this life. Eternal life is something that comes to us from God. It is something we share in when we abide in God and God in us. It is not something that we can ever own in our own right, independent of God, as though we held legal title to it. Rather it is something that God continually gives to us, continually tops us up with, like water being poured onto a garden every evening, throughout a long dry summer (not that we have had much experience of long dry summers recently!). We receive this life from God by grace, as God’s own free gift to us. When our relationship with God is strong we can gain a sense of assurance that God will pour out this life for us, but it always remains God’s to pour out.
So if that it means to receive eternal life, then how do we do it? What can we do to help to help the process, to receive this life that God wants to pour out to us. Well, in the short passage of scripture that we read for our gospel today Jesus gives us at least three direct descriptions of where this life comes from.
First of all Jesus says, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. … The one who eats this bread will live forever.” Well there are many different interpretations of what Jesus means here, and probably, to a greater or lesser extent, many have truth within them. However, it seems to me very natural and obvious to think that Jesus is talking about the Eucharist at this point. Certainly it is true, coming to the Eucharist is a practical and very physical way of receiving the life of Christ within us. And it is important to come regularly. Just as a garden needs to be watered regularly if it is to grow and bear fruit, so we need to come regularly to the Eucharist to be refreshed in the eternal life, and to grow and bare spiritual fruit.
The second description of where eternal life comes from occurs when Jesus says, “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is useless.” This is a reminder that we all need to be born again in the Spirit. Just as, physically, we are born as babies and need to grow up into mature human beings, so, spiritually, we must be born of the spirit and grow up to be mature spiritual being, saints, ready to lay aside our earthly flesh and to live the life of heaven. We associate being born in the spirit with baptism, when we receive the Holy Spirit and begin our journey of faith within the Church.
“It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is useless.” This phrase also reminds us to give proper attention to our spiritual lives, setting aside time for prayer and meditation. Devoting time to our spiritual life may appear to be unproductive use of time, but it is the spirit that gives life. We might manage to stay alive in the flesh for seventy or eighty years, but sooner or later the flesh passes away and at that point we depend completely on our spiritual life.
The third description of where eternal life comes from arises when Jesus says, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” We have to receive the words of Jesus and if we receive them then we receive both spirit and life. How do we receive the words of Jesus? Well we have to listen to them prayerfully, and allow them to sink into us, and to challenge us and transform us. Above all we have to allow them to affect our attitudes and behaviours, so that we live our lives in accordance with the words of Jesus. At the heart of the words of Jesus we must remember the commandment that he gave us which he described as new and as his own. “Love one another, as I have loved you”. This is the characteristic attitude and behaviour of people who have received the words of Jesus. Inwardly we seek to receive the words of Jesus, and outwardly we practise the behaviours of love. By this we receive the spirit and life of Jesus. Jesus grows within us, and we move towards maturity in the spiritual life.
[There is in fact a forth description of how eternal life come to us comes when Peter says to Jesus, “You have the words of Eternal Life”. There is much that could be said about this wonderful acclamation of peter, but in a way he is not adding very much to what Jesus has already said. Jesus has just said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life,” So let’s focus on the three descriptions made by Jesus; there is already more than enough there.]
So, to summarise. Jesus wants to share his eternal life with us. He wants to give us this gift. How do we receive it? Well first in the Eucharist we receive Christ’s life within ourselves, his very body and blood. Secondly we receive eternal life from the Spirit. We give thanks for our baptism, but we must also take good care of our spiritual lives, making sure that we set aside time for prayer and meditation. Thirdly we receive eternal life from the words, the commands, of Jesus, when we let them enter into us and transform our ways of thinking and behaving. [And the most central word or commandment of Jesus is “Love one another as I have loved you.” This should grow to become our central attitude, our characteristic behaviour.] And although eternal life is entirely God’s free gift, as we grow in this way we can start to hope for a sense of assurance, a profound knowledge and trust, that God is indeed sharing his life with us, and that he will indeed continue to do so for all eternity. Amen.

The Liturgy of the Word

Sermon preached at 11am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull
Sunday 12th July 2009, Trinity 5 (Proper 10) Year B
Special Theme – The Liturgy of the Word

Readings: Amos 7: 7-15 Ephesians 1: 3-14 Mark 6: 1-13


As you hopefully already know, we are now making preparations for Back to Church Sunday on 27th September. Back to Church Sunday is a national initiative, particularly supported by Birmingham Diocese, whereby each of us who come to church is encouraged to invite back to church someone who used to attend church, but who, for one reason or another, has not attended for a while. The idea is that for that particular Sunday we make it as easy as we possibility can for people to come back. We invite them personally, we offer to travel with them, or meet them outside church, we sit with them and do our best to make them feel welcomed and at home. Hopefully each of us have already began to think about who we might invite back. Hopefully we have already begun to pray for them, and perhaps even tipped them off that we will be inviting them in September. And this is something that we can all take part in. Even if we are not in a position to invite anyone back, we can still support the initiative through our prayers and through our efforts to welcome back comers when we meet them in church.
There will be more practical preparation for back to church Sunday later in the summer, for example with invitation cards. But in the meantime, across the whole parish, we want to make a good spiritual preparation by reflecting on the question “Why go to church?” The more profoundly we feel and understand the reasons for coming to church, the more naturally and authentically we shall be able to encourage others to come back to church. We are tackling this question of “Why come to church?” by looking at the four main parts of the Eucharistic service, seeking to grow our understanding of their significance and relevance. The 9.15am congregation are approaching this through monthly Teaching Eucharists, but at this 11am Eucharist we are covering this theme in the month of July, with four separate sermons; one for each of the four main parts of the Eucharist. Last week Fr Andrew spoke about the Gathering Rite. This week I shall be talking about the liturgy of the Word. The sermon will be slightly longer than usual, and there will be a summary of the main points available on a handout as you leave church.
So let’s think about the Liturgy of the Word. Have a look at your service booklet. You can see on page n the Gathering Rite ends and the Liturgy of the Word begins. We start with scripture readings, then we have a hymn, a gospel reading, a sermon, we say the creed, and conclude with the intercessions on page m.
When we come to church we hope to have some kind of encounter with God through our worship. God is present to us in several different ways in our worship, but the two most important of these are in the sacrament, when we receive it, and also in the Word of God, when it is proclaimed to us. This second one is what the liturgy of the word is primarily about. It is about listening to the scriptures read to us in worship and through them encountering God, understanding him better, drawing closer to him and wanting to live our lives more in accordance with his teaching.
So we say that God is present to us in the reading of the scriptures in Church. At the end of the reading we say, “This is the Word of the Lord” because we are hearing God speak to us through the scriptures. Now I just want to clarify that a little. As Christians we don’t, for example, make the same claims about the bible as Muslim’s make about the Koran. The Muslims say that the Koran is literally the words of God, dictated to the prophet Mohammad. For the most part the bible is not like that. There are some parts of the Old Testament where a prophet says, “Thus says the Lord our God…” to introduce some direct message from God. We also know that Jesus is divine, so the words of Jesus do come directly to us from God. But most of the bible is written by frail and fallible human beings who are recording some aspect of God’s relationship with humanity. And it is that relationship between God and humanity, between God and ourselves which becomes enlightened for us when we listen to the scriptures in worship.
Now typically we have three readings; one from the Old Testament, one from the epistles and a Gospel reading. So first of all we have an Old Testament reading. The Old Testament makes up about three quarters of our current day bibles. It is the old Jewish scriptures, written in Hebrew that Jesus himself would have been familiar with. It is sometimes called the Hebrew Bible. The Old Testament is littered with themes and ideas that recur and are further developed in the New Testament. For example, this morning we heard about the prophet Amos and his plumb line to keep the people of Israel upright and true. Amos caused tension with his prophecies against the king, Jeroboam. This same theme is repeated with John the Baptist in today’s gospel reading. John the Baptist comes proclaiming a message “make your paths straight”, and he too gets into trouble (indeed loses his life) for criticising the king. We might say that Amos is in some sense a precursor of John the Baptist, or to use the technical theological language, a “type”.
Our Old Testament readings are therefore important because they set out understandings about Jesus and the Church in the context of our salvation history; in the context of God’s relationship with the Jews. When I was studying at theological college I bought a big bible that shows cross references between different parts of the bible. I have to say that I was shocked to see how heavily the New Testament draws on the Old Testament. There are references to it everywhere.
After our Old Testament reading we have a New Testament reading, typically from the epistles. The epistles were letters written by the apostles to different churches or church leaders in the first century. They therefore provide essential teaching about how we are to think and behave in the church. For example, today we read a wonderful hymn of praise from Ephesians, which sets out for us the many blessings we have received and will receive through Christ.
Have a look at the lectern from which the scriptures are read. There is an eagle perched on a ball. The ball represents the world, and the eagle represents the word of God. The eagle is a symbol of strength and renewal (Is 40:31) and it spreads itself over the world, like the word of God. An eagle is also the symbol of St John the Evangelist, responsible for 5 of the 27 books in the New Testament.
But the climax of the Liturgy of the Word is the reading of the gospel, and when we read the gospel we use a completely different symbolism. First of all we highlight this part of the liturgy with as much ceremony as possible. We have music for Alleluias or a gradual hymn and many people are involved and sometimes we even have incense. Above all we have a procession which re-enacts certain aspects of the incarnation. In the incarnation God comes down from high heaven to dwell with us mortals on earth, and to bring the good news (the gospel) to us. In the gospel procession the book of the gospels is carried down from its elevated place at the front of church, or on the altar, into the body of the church. We try to read the gospel from the very middle of the church, from the midst of all the people. We are acting out, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1: 14).
As the gospel is announced we are all invited to sign ourselves with a cross three times, once on the forehead, once on the lips and once on the heart. This indicates that we want the gospel (the good news) to be forever on our minds, on our lips and on our hearts. Now I have to admit that, until recently, I never used to make hand signals like this, or make the sign of the cross during worship. Since I have started making them however I have been impressed by how they help me to connect with what is going on. Previously I was participating with my ears and my mind as I listened and my voice, as I said the responses. Now I also participate with my body as I make the signs, and this is a fuller participation. I am more drawn into what is happening as the gospel is read, so I commend these signs to you.
The high point of the Liturgy of the Word comes at the end of the gospel reading, when the proclaimer lifts the book up high and says, “This is the gospel of the Lord.” The moment is analogous to the elevation of the sacrament and great amen at the end of the Eucharistic prayer.
This high point is followed by the sermon, and we all know has the potential to be a real low point! But the purpose of the sermon is to help us to understand the scripture readings, to help us to welcome them into our hearts and transform us. A good sermon will help us to see the relevance of the scriptures and to live out the gospel message in our daily lives. Obviously the success of a sermon depends the skill of the preacher, but it is all too easy to underestimate the role of the congregation in the delivery of a good sermon. If the congregation listen with hope and love to the preacher, rejoicing with the preacher in what is good, and suffering with the preacher in what is bad, then Jesus can be present (c.f. Matt 18:20) and can communicate, despite the preacher’s inadequacies.
After the sermon we have the creed, which is a simple reminder of the fundamental points of the Christian faith into which we were baptised. The creeds give us a solid rock on which all our Christianity can be built. If our Christianity is consistent with the creeds then we can’t go too far wrong. If we start to forget the creeds or to ignore them then the risk of building our lives on unsure foundations starts to increase. One day a crisis will come, and everything that is not built on the solid rock of the teaching of Jesus will fall away. It is good to remind ourselves of the creeds each week.
The final part of the Liturgy of the Word is the intercessions; the prayers. These prayers are in part a response to the encounter with the word of God. Hopefully the encounter has encouraged us and moved us forward and we want to rededicate ourselves to God in prayer. But the prayers are also a preparation for the Liturgy of the Sacrament, which is about to begin. We lay before the Lord our prayers confident that by the great sacrifice of Jesus that the Eucharist recalls, they may be purified and made acceptable and desirable to God. The word “intercede” means to plead to someone on behalf of someone else. Most of the time, in intercessions, we are praying for other people. Most noticeably we pray for people who are sick or who have died, or those who have asked for our prayers. Of course we can and should pray for ourselves, but we must recognise that our prayers for others are more generous and more purified and therefore more beneficial in front of God.
So that, in a nutshell, is the Liturgy of the Word. Hopefully as we understanding the liturgy better we will find it easier to engage with what is happening and be drawn more fully into the encounter with God. I am sure that worshiping well ourselves will prove to be the best possible preparation as we come to invite others to worship with us on Back to Church Sunday. Amen.

Basking in the word of God

Sermon preached on 22/07/07 at 9.15am service at St Alphege, Solihull
Trinity 7 (Proper 11) – Year C
Readings: Genesis 18:1-10a Colossians 1:15-28 Luke 10:38-42


As I was walking to church this morning I was thinking about all the recent rain, and I thought how ironic it was that I intended to preach about sunshine! I had no sooner thought the thought that the sun came out and shone on me briefly, so let’s spend a moment thinking about sunshine.
My wife loves to sunbath. When the sun comes out she sets aside time to sit in the sun. She slows down and starts to relax. She catches up with herself and recharges her batteries. She also goes most beautifully brown. Now doctors warn us that too much sun can be bad for our skin, and Elaine is careful not to overdo it. Despite this it often seems that it is through soaking up the sun that she regains her equilibrium and is restored in who she is.
Now this idea of sitting in the light of the sun, absorbing its warmth and being restored to wholeness, is a little bit like listening to the word of God. Just as Elaine goes out of her way to sit in the sun, so we need to rest, listening to the word of God. Just as Elaine soaks up the warmth of the sun and allows it to recharge her batteries and make her go brown, so we need to soak up the word of God, allow it to transform us and to form in us the attributes of Christ.
In our OT reading today we heard about Abraham and Sarah listening to the words spoken by the Lord. The Lord mysteriously appears to Abraham as three men, standing near to his tent. Abraham brings them food and drink and sits by the three men as they ate. The three men announce that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, will bear a son for Abraham. This is remarkable, indeed unbelievable, news. If we had read a little further into the passage it would have been explained to us that both Sarah and Abraham were very old at this point and the thought of having a child was quite extraordinary. In fact Sarah, who was listening to the conversation from the entrance to the tent, laughed at the idea of having a child.
The effect of this conversation with the Lord was transformational. God had long promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, and yet Sarah had never been able to have children. This huge paradox perplexed them for years. Perhaps it was the burden of this paradox that made Sarah suggest that Abraham should have a child through her slave-girl Hagar. But suddenly, when they were ridiculously old, Sarah becomes pregnant and has a son Isaac. God’s promises were fulfilled in a way that was much more direct and total than had ever seemed possible.
Our gospel reading is also about listening to the word of God. In this case it is about listening to Jesus. In the Christian tradition we think of Jesus as the word of God (e.g. John 1) so to listen to Jesus is particularly to listen to the word of God. The story contrasts Martha and Mary and their two different ways of loving Jesus. Martha seeks to love Jesus by performing many tasks; presumably she is preparing a meal for him and his friends. Mary loves Jesus by sitting at his feet and listening to what he says. Martha clearly thinks that Mary should be helping prepare the meal, but Jesus says that Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken away from her. Jesus clearly values people listening too him.
And Jesus’ words, or perhaps Jesus himself, also seems to have had a transforming effect on Martha and Mary. In John’s gospel, Jesus visits Bethany, where Martha and Mary live, many times in the weeks before his death. Martha and Mary show great faith when their brother Lazarus dies, and Jesus raises him from the dead. There is also a remarkable moment in which Mary washes Jesus’ feet with ointment and wipes them with her hair. Jesus recognises this as a preparation of his body for burial.
And so what about us? Do we spend time listening to the word of God? Do we allow it to enter into us and transform us? Well perhaps we read the bible at home. Certainly this is one way of encountering the word of God. If we come regularly to worship then we hear the scriptures read in our worship. Personally I find that when I listen to the scriptures read during worship then they sink into me much more fully than if I simply read the bible on my own at home. In worship I sometimes find that something from a bible reading strikes me, as though I am hearing it for the first time, or in a new way, even if I might already be quite familiar with that particular passage. I am not quite sure why I find a scripture readings during worship so much more helpful than bible reading at home. Perhaps my approach is more prayerful during worship. Perhaps my communion with other worshipers helps me to understand better.
When we read scripture it is important that we allow the Word of God to nurture our whole human person, body, mind and spirit. We need to prayerfully allow the words to enter into us. Spiritual advisers usually say that if something from a bible reading strikes us then we should stay with that thought or feeling and allow it to percolate through us. We should not be seeking to interrogate the text with our own analysis and questions. Rather we should be humbly allowing the text to invade us and question us about our attitudes and the actions of our lives. The Word of God is not a puzzle for us to solve, but rather it is a gift for us to receive.
During Lent last year, many of us followed the Life Source course on prayer. One of the technique of prayer that this covered (albeit rather briefly) was called Lectio Divina or “divine reading”. Lectio Divina is prayer based around the slow and repeated reading of scripture or some other text suitable for prayerful reflection. It allows the word of God to enter into us, to nurture us and to form within the attributes of Christ.
I would like to share with you a recent example where I have found that nurturing myself on the Word of God has helped me in my spiritual life. I spent a month reflecting on the phrase, “those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy” from psalm 126. This helped me to understand that I must not seek instant results or immediate payback when I try to do good. For example, if I try to love someone, and they don’t seem to love me back, then this is not a reason to stop loving them. Another example comes from one of my “hobbies” in which I spend time lobbying for better practice in the field of executive pay. My lobbying appears to have very little effect, and there is a temptation to lose heart. However the text from the psalm encourages me to persevere in doing what is right. When the sower sows the seed the first thing that happens is that the seed disappears into the ground and rots away. It is weeks before any growth can be seen, and months before anything that might be harvested becomes visible. Furthermore the text gives me courage when things are painful and difficult. I might sow in tears today, but can I hope one day to reap with shouts of joy.
So as we go on our summer holidays, and enjoy the warmth of the sun (let’s hope we get the chance!), let’s also make sure that be bask in the light and warmth of the word of God. Let’s let it sink into us, transforming our attitudes and behaviours. Let’s allow it to do its job, so that Christ can be formed within us.