Short sermon preached at 8am Eucharist at St Alphege Church, Parish of Solihull
Sunday 27th September 2009, Back to Church Sunday
Readings for Back to Church Sunday, taken from Year C, Proper 26.
Isaiah 1: 10-18 2 Thessalonians 1: 1-4 & 11-12 Luke 19: 1-10
Quite often, when I meet people from the fringes of our church community I get the comment, “Of course you don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian!” Well, you won’t be surprised to know that vicar/curate types like me don’t particularly like this kind of comment; it reveals very restricted form of Christian life in which the worship and community life of the church are marginalised.
But if you wanted to try and prove from scripture that, “You don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian,” one of the texts that you might well go for is the reading from Isaiah that we heard this morning. The reading is from the eighth century BC. In it, God, through the prophet Isaiah, complains bitterly against his chosen people, the nation of Israel. And God’s particular complaint appears to be their worship. He says, “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? …Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. … I can’t endure your solemn assemblies with iniquity.” On the face of it God is complaining about their worship. He hates their worship. So there you have it; it is better not to worship. It is better to be a Christian who never comes to church! QED!
Well, no! To understand the passage in this way is to misunderstand it completely. If we read the passage carefully we will see that the real problem is the iniquity of the people, the evil of their doings. The real problem is their bad behaviour. If people behave badly then their worship becomes hypocrisy. It’s becomes like a child telling you that you are a wonderful Dad, while steeling your money. It becomes like a neighbour praising your good nature, while bringing a lawsuit against you. It becomes like a work colleague who is all sweetness and light, but who is quietly stabbing you in the back.
So the message of the passage is not, “Don’t Worship!” On the contrary, the message of the passage is, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; …cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice … then your worship will be acceptable to God. Then God will listen to your prayers. Then God will not hide himself from you.”
And this might feel like a challenge too far. You try and do a favour for God by coming to church, and then God turns round and tells you that you need to get you whole life in order first. He tells us that we need to live a good life before we can worship. Well, we might as all well go home right now!
But no! This isn’t the message either, and we can see this in the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a public sinner of the first order. He conspired with the Romans to take taxes off the Jews. His work strengthened the occupying Roman army and weakened the Jewish people. To the Jews he was the lowest of the low; a betrayer of God’s people, a traitor. And Jesus knew all this. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus’ whole lifestyle was embroiled in sin. And yet Jesus called to him. Jesus came to visit him. People criticised Jesus for visiting a sinner, but Jesus went all the same and stayed at Zacchaeus’ house.
And when Zacchaeus realised he was loved by Jesus, suddenly he found the capacity to change. Suddenly he could throw off his sin, he could give generously to the poor, he could make good fourfold the loses of anyone he had cheated. He remained a tax collector, but now a just one, and Jesus confirmed that salvation had come to his house.
When we come to church, we come to meet Jesus. It can be a bit awkward and uncomfortable, a bit like climbing a tree. But let’s listen to Jesus calling to us. Let’s listen to Jesus wanting to stay with us. Let’s know that Jesus loves us, and calls us to walk the path to heaven. And with our fixed on Jesus, we will find the grace to put aside our sinful ways. We will start to live lives worthy of our calling. Our worship will become pleasing to God. We will find ourselves able to walk the journey to heaven and to dwell always in the presence of God. Amen.
Showing posts with label worship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label worship. Show all posts
27 September 2009
07 June 2009
Growing up in worship
Sermon preached at Solihull School Chapel, 6.30pm Eucharist on Sunday 7th June 2009.
Choir present: boys and men. Trinity Sunday – Year B
Readings: Isaiah 6: 1-8 and John 3: 1-17
I would like you to cast your minds back to when you were little, when you were about three and used to play at being like the grown ups; play at being like Mum and Dad. And perhaps you had some toys to help you to do that. Did you have one of those little plastic vacuum cleaners so you could walk round behind Mum, doing the cleaning? I am sure that some us here had those little plastic lawnmowers that you could push round and they would throw up some green beads that looked like grass clippings. And then there are those red and yellow Little Tikes coupe cars you could ride around in – how cool were they?
Now someone might say, “It’s very silly for the children to play at being grown ups, because they are not grown ups, and that’s not a real lawnmower; its made of plastic.” And in one way this is quite true, but in another way it completely misses the point. Children are pre-programmed to grow up into adults. Playing at being an adult is an important part of growing up. It shows that the children understand their destiny, their calling. It shows that they want to grow up to be adults; they want to be part of the adult world, to share in the adult world, and to make their contribution alongside the other adults. And this is a very good thing. It gives us good grounds for hoping that these children will indeed one day grow up and take their right place in the adult world.
Now, what I want to suggest to you this evening is that rather like children, who are pre-programmed to grow into adults, we Christians on earth are pre-programmed to grow up into saints in heaven. This is what God created us for. This is our true destiny. This is where we find fulfilment, the full realisation of God’s creation in us. And just as it takes time for a child to grow into an adult, so it takes time for a Christian to grow into a saint in heaven. And just as children need a lot of love, encouragement, teaching and example to grow up into adults so Christians need love, encouragement, teaching and example from God, and the saints and from good people in order to grow up to become saints in heaven. And just as it is natural and good and helpful for children to play at being adults, so it is natural and good and helpful for Christians to play at being saints in heaven.
In our gospel today Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to believe about earthly things before he has any chance of believing about heavenly things. In the same way we Christians have to live good Christian lives on earth before we can hope to live the lives of the saints in heaven. And there are many different aspects to living a good Christian life on earth. But today I would like to focus on just one aspect of our earthly Christian lives; our worship of God.
On Trinity Sunday we often sing my favourite hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” The hymn presents us with a vision of God seated on the throne of heaven in his power and glory, being worshiped by all the angels and saints:
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
This description of the worship of the saints in heaven is mainly based on chapters 4 and 5 of the Book of Revelation, the last book in the bible. But today we heard, in our first scripture reading, of another vision of heaven coming from the prophet Isaiah, probably in the eighth century BC. Yet the similarities are striking. The seraphs are in attendance. Those words “Holy, Holy, Holy” crop up again. There is great power and splendour and majesty and the pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
And for Isaiah, a mere human, in mortal flesh, aware of his sin this is an overwhelming experience. He is filled with a perplexing mix of awe and wonder and fear. These are the emotions of our Anthem, “Let all mortal flesh keep silence”. We are painfully aware that anything as earthly as human flesh might simply melt aware before the mysterious majesty of God’s presence. Isaiah says, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips”. But the seraphs purify Isaiah from his sin using a burning coal. Nothing is said, but I imagine that the burning coal was very painful. Certainly our experience of the Christian life is that there is usually a cost, some kind of suffering or pain or hard work associated with being purified from sin. But them suddenly it seems that Isaiah can stand in the glory of heaven and can respond positively to the Lord’s invitation. “Here am I, send me” he replies. The worship of heaven and the presence of God have transformed him. They have given him his role, his identity.
These visions (and others in the bible e.g. Daniel 7 or Ezekiel 1) give us some insights into the life of heaven, and the worship that takes place there. And there is a sense in which our worship on earth is seeking to copy this, the great worship of heaven. Many of the visions of heaven talk about music and singing and certainly we do this in our worship on earth. In this chapel a great deal of effort and energy goes into the organ and singing and we do our best to do these things very well, in order to worship as well as possible. And in our worship we have a rite of repentance and forgiveness, so that like Isaiah we can be purified and made whole. We have periods of silence, in which we seek to be aware of our own nothingness before the awesome presence of God. Sometimes we copy the worship of heaven with loud singing, maybe even enough to make the pivots of the thresholds shake! Sometimes we use incense and we do our best to fill the house with smoke, as in the Isaiah vision. Certainly we use those words Holy, Holy, Holy in every Eucharist, often singing them in Latin: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
Now we know that all this worship on earth is a bit like child’s play compared to the great worship of the saints in heaven. But just as children who play at being adults do eventually grow up to be adults so we hope and aspire that through our worship on earth
we will eventually grow up to become saints in heaven. We will be joined forever in that great and eternal worship of heaven. Amen.
Choir present: boys and men. Trinity Sunday – Year B
Readings: Isaiah 6: 1-8 and John 3: 1-17
I would like you to cast your minds back to when you were little, when you were about three and used to play at being like the grown ups; play at being like Mum and Dad. And perhaps you had some toys to help you to do that. Did you have one of those little plastic vacuum cleaners so you could walk round behind Mum, doing the cleaning? I am sure that some us here had those little plastic lawnmowers that you could push round and they would throw up some green beads that looked like grass clippings. And then there are those red and yellow Little Tikes coupe cars you could ride around in – how cool were they?
Now someone might say, “It’s very silly for the children to play at being grown ups, because they are not grown ups, and that’s not a real lawnmower; its made of plastic.” And in one way this is quite true, but in another way it completely misses the point. Children are pre-programmed to grow up into adults. Playing at being an adult is an important part of growing up. It shows that the children understand their destiny, their calling. It shows that they want to grow up to be adults; they want to be part of the adult world, to share in the adult world, and to make their contribution alongside the other adults. And this is a very good thing. It gives us good grounds for hoping that these children will indeed one day grow up and take their right place in the adult world.
Now, what I want to suggest to you this evening is that rather like children, who are pre-programmed to grow into adults, we Christians on earth are pre-programmed to grow up into saints in heaven. This is what God created us for. This is our true destiny. This is where we find fulfilment, the full realisation of God’s creation in us. And just as it takes time for a child to grow into an adult, so it takes time for a Christian to grow into a saint in heaven. And just as children need a lot of love, encouragement, teaching and example to grow up into adults so Christians need love, encouragement, teaching and example from God, and the saints and from good people in order to grow up to become saints in heaven. And just as it is natural and good and helpful for children to play at being adults, so it is natural and good and helpful for Christians to play at being saints in heaven.
In our gospel today Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to believe about earthly things before he has any chance of believing about heavenly things. In the same way we Christians have to live good Christian lives on earth before we can hope to live the lives of the saints in heaven. And there are many different aspects to living a good Christian life on earth. But today I would like to focus on just one aspect of our earthly Christian lives; our worship of God.
On Trinity Sunday we often sing my favourite hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” The hymn presents us with a vision of God seated on the throne of heaven in his power and glory, being worshiped by all the angels and saints:
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
This description of the worship of the saints in heaven is mainly based on chapters 4 and 5 of the Book of Revelation, the last book in the bible. But today we heard, in our first scripture reading, of another vision of heaven coming from the prophet Isaiah, probably in the eighth century BC. Yet the similarities are striking. The seraphs are in attendance. Those words “Holy, Holy, Holy” crop up again. There is great power and splendour and majesty and the pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
And for Isaiah, a mere human, in mortal flesh, aware of his sin this is an overwhelming experience. He is filled with a perplexing mix of awe and wonder and fear. These are the emotions of our Anthem, “Let all mortal flesh keep silence”. We are painfully aware that anything as earthly as human flesh might simply melt aware before the mysterious majesty of God’s presence. Isaiah says, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips”. But the seraphs purify Isaiah from his sin using a burning coal. Nothing is said, but I imagine that the burning coal was very painful. Certainly our experience of the Christian life is that there is usually a cost, some kind of suffering or pain or hard work associated with being purified from sin. But them suddenly it seems that Isaiah can stand in the glory of heaven and can respond positively to the Lord’s invitation. “Here am I, send me” he replies. The worship of heaven and the presence of God have transformed him. They have given him his role, his identity.
These visions (and others in the bible e.g. Daniel 7 or Ezekiel 1) give us some insights into the life of heaven, and the worship that takes place there. And there is a sense in which our worship on earth is seeking to copy this, the great worship of heaven. Many of the visions of heaven talk about music and singing and certainly we do this in our worship on earth. In this chapel a great deal of effort and energy goes into the organ and singing and we do our best to do these things very well, in order to worship as well as possible. And in our worship we have a rite of repentance and forgiveness, so that like Isaiah we can be purified and made whole. We have periods of silence, in which we seek to be aware of our own nothingness before the awesome presence of God. Sometimes we copy the worship of heaven with loud singing, maybe even enough to make the pivots of the thresholds shake! Sometimes we use incense and we do our best to fill the house with smoke, as in the Isaiah vision. Certainly we use those words Holy, Holy, Holy in every Eucharist, often singing them in Latin: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
Now we know that all this worship on earth is a bit like child’s play compared to the great worship of the saints in heaven. But just as children who play at being adults do eventually grow up to be adults so we hope and aspire that through our worship on earth
we will eventually grow up to become saints in heaven. We will be joined forever in that great and eternal worship of heaven. Amen.
18 November 2007
Choir Sunday
Preached at St Alphege, Solihull on 18/11/07 – Second Sunday before Advent – Year C (Choir Sunday)
The sermon was preached at the 9.15 Eucharist with the boys choir interviewed and repeated at the 11am Eucharist with Girls Choir interviewed.
(Readings: Malachi 4:1-2a 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 21:5-19)
Choirs Sunday gives us an opportunity for us to celebrate our different choirs and to give thanks for the contribution that they make to our worship.
And there is a lot to give thanks for here. Perhaps most obviously we can give thanks for Nigel, our Director of Music and for John, the assistant organist. We give thanks for the people who sing in the choirs themselves; the boys, the girls, the ladies and the men. Then there are the families who support the choir members. Most people who sing in the choirs can only do so because of the support and commitment of other family members. We can also give thanks for groups like the Friends of St Alphege Music and the Royal School of Church Music who in different ways support the ministry of our choirs. So there is lots to give thanks for.
But Choirs Sunday is also a good opportunity to reflect upon the role of music in our worship. Music enhances the worship. It adds breadth and depth helping us to enter into the liturgy in a more complete way. Music makes the liturgy more beautiful and more fulfilling. If we go home from church still humming the music, then this helps us to remain in the spirit of the liturgy as we set out on our week.
Now most of us appreciate music, but many of us are not great musicians. And this is where a good choir can really help us. The choir can help us by leading our singing. It can also enhance our liturgy with additional anthems and settings that are well beyond the musical ability of most people. And this is a wonderful thing, and we need to celebrate it.
But there is another aspect that we must not lose sight of. Worship is something that we do together. When we come together as a church community to celebrate the Eucharist, we come together as one body; the body of Christ (e.g. Romans 12:4-5,1 Cor12:17, Eph 1:23). When we share in the bread and wine of the Eucharist we are share together in the body of Christ; we are participating in the body of Christ (1 Cor 10:16-17). The body of Christ in the Eucharist strengthens, renews and enlivens the body of Christ which is the church. And so it is essential that this celebration of the Eucharist is something we do together.
Now saying that we must celebrate the Eucharist together, does not mean that we all do the same thing. Just as the many organs of a physical body have different roles, so we have different roles in the church, and different roles in the liturgy. But the key point is that all these different things must be done to help and support the worship of the whole congregation; they must be done on behalf of the whole community.
So if the choir sing for us the Sanctus, or a special anthem we don’t need to join in and sing with them, but we do need to own and participate in that part of the worship. And we do this by listening, by praying and by contemplating the heavenly mysteries through the singing.
Now someone might say, “I’d rather sing my own Sanctus: that way I am participating more in the service.” Well, that is a good starting point. But as we grow in the faith, and as we get better at worship, we need to move beyond an individualised worship which is all about I do and say. Each of us needs to develop an awareness of or own worship as part of the worship of the whole community. My worship is my contribution to the worship of the whole congregation; it’s my sharing in the worship of the whole congregation. And in most cases the worship of the whole congregation is going to be more beautiful, and bring us closer to God, if the Sanctus is sung by the choir.
And this places a huge responsibility on the choir. It is very easy for the choir to get caught up in the technicalities of singing, and keeping the music sheets in order, and to forget they are worshiping, that worship is the essential thing. The more than the congregation is aware of the choir worshiping, the easier the congregation will find it to entrust the signing to the choir. And our liturgy will be the more beautiful for it.
Now I would like to ask the boys choir to come forward. We have talked about sharing in worship together, and sharing becomes easier as we know each other better, so I thought we could end this sermon by taking the opportunity to get to know the boys choir a little better. So we can start off by getting a proper look at you!
[A brief interview follows]
Tell me, how often do you come to church?
How often to practice, and how often to a service?
And what are the best bits of the service? What are the bits you enjoy?
And what about the rest of the service? Do you manage to say the prayers and listen to the sermon?
The sermon was preached at the 9.15 Eucharist with the boys choir interviewed and repeated at the 11am Eucharist with Girls Choir interviewed.
(Readings: Malachi 4:1-2a 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 21:5-19)
Choirs Sunday gives us an opportunity for us to celebrate our different choirs and to give thanks for the contribution that they make to our worship.
And there is a lot to give thanks for here. Perhaps most obviously we can give thanks for Nigel, our Director of Music and for John, the assistant organist. We give thanks for the people who sing in the choirs themselves; the boys, the girls, the ladies and the men. Then there are the families who support the choir members. Most people who sing in the choirs can only do so because of the support and commitment of other family members. We can also give thanks for groups like the Friends of St Alphege Music and the Royal School of Church Music who in different ways support the ministry of our choirs. So there is lots to give thanks for.
But Choirs Sunday is also a good opportunity to reflect upon the role of music in our worship. Music enhances the worship. It adds breadth and depth helping us to enter into the liturgy in a more complete way. Music makes the liturgy more beautiful and more fulfilling. If we go home from church still humming the music, then this helps us to remain in the spirit of the liturgy as we set out on our week.
Now most of us appreciate music, but many of us are not great musicians. And this is where a good choir can really help us. The choir can help us by leading our singing. It can also enhance our liturgy with additional anthems and settings that are well beyond the musical ability of most people. And this is a wonderful thing, and we need to celebrate it.
But there is another aspect that we must not lose sight of. Worship is something that we do together. When we come together as a church community to celebrate the Eucharist, we come together as one body; the body of Christ (e.g. Romans 12:4-5,1 Cor12:17, Eph 1:23). When we share in the bread and wine of the Eucharist we are share together in the body of Christ; we are participating in the body of Christ (1 Cor 10:16-17). The body of Christ in the Eucharist strengthens, renews and enlivens the body of Christ which is the church. And so it is essential that this celebration of the Eucharist is something we do together.
Now saying that we must celebrate the Eucharist together, does not mean that we all do the same thing. Just as the many organs of a physical body have different roles, so we have different roles in the church, and different roles in the liturgy. But the key point is that all these different things must be done to help and support the worship of the whole congregation; they must be done on behalf of the whole community.
So if the choir sing for us the Sanctus, or a special anthem we don’t need to join in and sing with them, but we do need to own and participate in that part of the worship. And we do this by listening, by praying and by contemplating the heavenly mysteries through the singing.
Now someone might say, “I’d rather sing my own Sanctus: that way I am participating more in the service.” Well, that is a good starting point. But as we grow in the faith, and as we get better at worship, we need to move beyond an individualised worship which is all about I do and say. Each of us needs to develop an awareness of or own worship as part of the worship of the whole community. My worship is my contribution to the worship of the whole congregation; it’s my sharing in the worship of the whole congregation. And in most cases the worship of the whole congregation is going to be more beautiful, and bring us closer to God, if the Sanctus is sung by the choir.
And this places a huge responsibility on the choir. It is very easy for the choir to get caught up in the technicalities of singing, and keeping the music sheets in order, and to forget they are worshiping, that worship is the essential thing. The more than the congregation is aware of the choir worshiping, the easier the congregation will find it to entrust the signing to the choir. And our liturgy will be the more beautiful for it.
Now I would like to ask the boys choir to come forward. We have talked about sharing in worship together, and sharing becomes easier as we know each other better, so I thought we could end this sermon by taking the opportunity to get to know the boys choir a little better. So we can start off by getting a proper look at you!
[A brief interview follows]
Tell me, how often do you come to church?
How often to practice, and how often to a service?
And what are the best bits of the service? What are the bits you enjoy?
And what about the rest of the service? Do you manage to say the prayers and listen to the sermon?
26 August 2007
Keeping the Sabbath
Thought for parish pew slip – 26th August 2007 - Trinity 12 (Proper 16) Year C
Readings Isaiah 58:9b-14 Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13: 10-17
Our readings today challenge us to think about the Sabbath.
In our reading from Isaiah, the prophet asks us not to go our own way, serve our own interests or pursue our own affairs on the Sabbath, but rather to honour the Sabbath and to think of it as a delight.
In our gospel reading Jesus performs a healing miracle on the Sabbath. This is one of several gospel stories where Jesus heals on the Sabbath, and it is always a challenge to the Scribes and Pharisees because it goes against the detailed regulations of the Law. Jesus however is insistent. In Luke 6:9 he asks, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil”.
Nowadays we live very busy lives and it is hard to live the Sabbath well. And yet the busyness of our lives makes it all the more important to set aside time for rest, for the family and for worship. If we don’t do these things on a Sunday, then when do we do them? Trying to observe the Sabbath is a good way of ensuring that rest, family and worship do not get crowded out of our lives. We need these things if we are to live fully human lives.
Readings Isaiah 58:9b-14 Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13: 10-17
Our readings today challenge us to think about the Sabbath.
In our reading from Isaiah, the prophet asks us not to go our own way, serve our own interests or pursue our own affairs on the Sabbath, but rather to honour the Sabbath and to think of it as a delight.
In our gospel reading Jesus performs a healing miracle on the Sabbath. This is one of several gospel stories where Jesus heals on the Sabbath, and it is always a challenge to the Scribes and Pharisees because it goes against the detailed regulations of the Law. Jesus however is insistent. In Luke 6:9 he asks, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil”.
Nowadays we live very busy lives and it is hard to live the Sabbath well. And yet the busyness of our lives makes it all the more important to set aside time for rest, for the family and for worship. If we don’t do these things on a Sunday, then when do we do them? Trying to observe the Sabbath is a good way of ensuring that rest, family and worship do not get crowded out of our lives. We need these things if we are to live fully human lives.
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