SERMON 63 - SUNDAY 16 AUGUST 2015

Sermon delivered at St. Lawrence’s Church, Stratford-sub-Castle, Wiltshire  – Sunday 16th August 2015

Ephesians 5:15-20; Psalm 111; John 6:51-58

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may these words be a blessing to all who hear them.  Amen

What do you think sustains you in life?  What is your passion? What is it that gets you excited?

In this modern day and age of instant gratification when we have so many choices at our disposal it is so easy to get side tracked away from our faith and look towards other things which can push our faith and our worship into the corner.  With a proposed extension of the relaxation of the Sunday trading laws more and more of our leisure time will be taken up with spreading out our normal week into the weekends.  I am totally at fault of this myself - for now we are firmly back in the Premier League and in Europe I shall be taking myself off to worship at St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton on some Sundays – so let me make it clear from the outset, I am certainly in no position to admonish those who spend their Sundays on pursuits other than going to church or relaxing with a bible. Indeed, Jesus himself angered the elders of the synagogue and leaders of the Jewish law observance group on more than one occasion by working himself on the Sabbath.

Today we had two really good readings and a psalm which remind us of the importance of recalling that our Faith is based on a firm belief that Jesus is the true way to salvation and that we as Christians are expected to meet together and worship to remind one another of this and to support each other – just as we are doing here today and later will be sharing God’s gifts of bread and wine together in the act of Holy Communion.

We certainly need times of relaxation and I, for one, enjoy a glass of wine on the sofa whilst reading or watching TV or just chatting with friends.  In our first reading (Ephesians 5:15-20), Paul enjoins us not to spend our time in debauchery, in drunkenness or hedonistic pleasure but to use it wisely as time is a gift from God which can be snatched back at any moment.  In our modern world there are now three major resources for us – wisdom, knowledge and more recently ease of information.  Each can set us on different paths but information should properly lead us to knowledge but it is how we use that knowledge which will determine whether we act wisely or not.

There is a lovely verse in Psalm 111 which reads : “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom” which I take to mean “Having a respect for the Lord will lead us to a better understanding of the knowledge we have obtained through the information sought and received”.The key is that we must put everything before God through Jesus our Saviour to enable us to lead a full and wise existence. Wisdom is about making good choices which are ultimately for the greater glory of the one who created us.  That should always be our aim as loyal Christians.

“Wisdom” is the common golden thread which runs through each of our readings this morning and had we had it, also our Old Testament reading from 1 Kings which speaks about the wisdom of Solomon and the building of the temple at Jerusalem in God’s honour. When we seek wise counsel we are seeking help and advice which will lead to a better understanding of ourselves within the context of the created world and hopefully making good choices and decisions for everyone we may encounter. I have made some bad choices in my own life, and each and every one of us can think back when we’ve done likewise – very often because we have failed to listen to good counsel or simply not understood what we were being told.  This is our greatest danger.

Jesus was constantly being misunderstood. In our gospel reading the Jewish authorities could not understand what he was talking about when he said “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood will have eternal life” and their sensibilities will have been shocked by this seeming call to cannibalism!  Indeed, the early Christians were often rumoured to eat human flesh and drink blood when their Holy Communion rites were discovered by non-believers.  Surely, thought the Jewish leaders, this cannot be considered acceptable – and we read in the very next verses of John how a significant number of Jesus’s disciples fled at the thought of this rather gruesome supper – indeed, the messiah which they wanted to follow was one who was going to give them actual food and freedom from the control exercised by the Roman occupiers.This was not what they had bought into.

In fact, what Jesus was doing was predicting his own crucifixion and explaining that only through his broken body and the shedding of his blood on the Cross could we poor human beings truly obtain salvation – eternal life.  If we didn’t believe that, if we didn’t accept that truth as “meat and drink” then we were lost.  It is interesting how today we still often use the phrase “It’s meat and drink to them” when we describe something as being trite to a person – without question, simple, understandable and something being followed naturally. And so should be our faith – especially when we are called upon to witness to others who are not Christians.

There are two other famous incidences in Jesus’s life where the same message is misunderstood.  I recall preaching here in this very church about a year ago when I talked about the woman at the well who thought Jesus was talking about a real liquid when he told her that he could provide living water which would quench her thirst for all time.  The poor woman had to make a midday trip to the well every day and thought Jesus would be able to put a stop to that – just as those disciples who left Jesus thought that he would put an end to Roman occupation.  Again, he was talking about himself and using water as an analogy.  There is also that famous incident when Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night when they discussed being “born again” – with Nicodemus asking “How can a man return to his mother’s womb”. This was not what he was saying but a turning back – a repentance.

Jesus uses analogies all the time. In John we have just had the feeding of the five thousand where Jesus breaks bread – a prophecy perhaps of the last supper – and bread is very much at the fore. Through his various miracles around this part of John he has also demonstrated the power of God and that he has been sent from Heaven – a theme which John picks up on no less than thirty times in his gospel.

This morning’s gospel passage has been the subject of much theological debate and interpretation over the centuries and led to the doctrine of transubstantiation which has itself led to violent arguments, executions and even wars.  I don’t intend to get into a massive debate on this – it’s far too controversial – but it is my firm belief that Jesus is reminding his followers of his human divinity (both human and divine) and that his sacrifice on the cross is the centre of his ministry for our salvation. I therefore do not personally believe that Jesus ever intended the sacraments to be transubstantiated and the Church of England’s Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, which I signed up to on my admission as a minister, state the contrary in Article 28.  Far simpler, and a far better interpretation, in my view, is that Jesus is telling us to have Faith in his teaching, ministry and in particular his crucifixion and resurrection for the atonement of our sins.

That of course is not to diminish Holy Communion nor does that belief mean Jesus is not present at the Communion table – indeed he is present with us always but this is a special time to come together in his presence as true disciples and share a common meal.

Jesus told his disciples – and we are his modern day ones – that we should remember Him and what he did for us that first Easter in the partaking of bread and wine.  These items, so common at the table then and indeed today, represent his body and the blood he shed.  It was an intimate moment at the Last Supper when the disciples shared the dish and the wine and joined together to demonstrate their love and wisdom of Jesus.  They partook of the information he gave them, the knowledge and understanding of what he was doing by this simple act.

As we shortly go up to the alter to receive Holy Communion we should recall those prophetic words of Jesus in John’s gospel – “by eating and drinking his body and blood we are acknowledging him as our Saviour and obtaining Eternal Life” and, by doing so together during an act of worship we are also supporting one another and acting in true Christian brotherly and sisterly fashion demonstrating the Faith which we have already subscribed to.

For us he should be the very meat and drink of our Faith.

I began by asking what sustains us?  As Christians this wonderful belief that Jesus came down, broke bread with us, lived amongst us and then died for us rising so that he could continue to have a relationship with us must be the greatest thing to sustain us through life. I pray that each and every one of us remembers this simple yet enormous thought through, not only those times of anxiety and despair, but also those times when we could easily find more material substitutes to sustain us.

Let us pray,

Dear Lord, we thank you that you came down from Heaven and dwelt amongst us.

In the act of Holy Communion we remember all you did for us and that by being the meat and drink of our salvation you will continue to watch over us and guide us in the paths of righteousness during the period of our time here on Earth

And that we may live good and sober lives so that you can enrich us with your wisdom and love.

Amen

 

MFB/63

SERMON 62 - SUNDAY 9 AUGUST 2015

Sermon delivered at All Saints Parish Church, Whiteparish  – Sunday 9th August 2015

Job 39:1 – 40:4; Psalm 91; Hebrews 12:1-17

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may these words be a blessing to all who hear them.  Amen

In preparation for my house move, I recently reviewed the sheer number of books I possess and came to the conclusion that I would need to undertake a major cull – but like so many book lovers, I know I will find it excruciatingly difficult with having so many interests – books on theology, astronomy, political biographies, art, music, history, geography, not to mention my extensive collection of books on industrial and other forms of archaeology, maritime history, railways and buses and tramways. That’s without starting on the non-fiction!  Indeed, I know full well that most information can now be gleaned through electronic technology and Wikipaedia remains a constant companion of mine; but to dispose of my books would still be sheer pain.

However, there is one section of my library which contains dozens and dozens of books which can be loosely described as “Self-Help” or “Psychology” – those I bought at a time when I thought they would bring me the answers to all my problems – those written by business gurus suggesting how I could make my business more profitable, reach out to get more clients, those written by health gurus telling me how I could look and feel better – they obviously are still in pristine condition! – those written by a number of people containing psychological tests in order to ascertain my personality and suggesting what best form of occupation would suit my personality; books on leadership and so on.

However, there sitting in amongst all of these is a specific genre about “parenting” – and there are dozens of them – from the cradle to dealing with the emotions of teenagers with titles like “The Sixty Minute Father”, “Getting through The Troublesome Teen Years”, “Bringing up Teenagers”.  I’ve even attended courses in the past on parenting to see if there was any magic formula available to deal with troublesome toddlers and teenagers.  These courses taught me only one thing – I wasn’t alone and everything I experienced in bringing up my children had been experienced by others before and all we were really doing was sharing experiences – with so many different ideas and suggestions on how to deal with similar situations as there are books.

I well recall attending my first ante-natal class with my then partner.  At one point we were split into two groups – prospective mothers and prospective fathers.  Each group was asked to come up with a set of the most important questions they wanted to bring up to those running the course.  The result was fascinating – the prospective mothers wanted to ask questions relating to the actual birth – “would it hurt? how much? what pain reducing methods were available?” Should they have gas and air or a TENS machine? etc. etc.  The fathers’ main pre-occupation was “how much does it cost to bring up a child?, how and who should discipline the child, what happens if you and your partner don’t agree upon how this should be done? When should you put a child’s name down for a particular school”? Hence the purchase of so many books on this topic with so many different ideas.

The one thing that came out of all this was that I was determined to be the best father I could be – books or no books.  My own parents had not, as far as I could establish, resorted to texts book but just got on with it.  Looking back, I didn’t have the most prosperous of childhoods in terms of material things – my first bicycle was second hand, I had “Minibricks” instead of Lego; I had a Twin Trix train set instead of the Hornby set I wanted and so on. But what I did have were very loving parents – my father lovingly building for me, from scratch, a lovely castle with a draw bridge and populating it carefully with cavaliers and roundheads – which I later ungraciously swapped with a friend for cowboys and Indians; and my mother taught me how to play cricket and would often join me and my friends on our small rear lawn where we re-enacted great Ashes Test match games!  I still treasure those moments.

The bible consists of 66 books – 37 in the Old Testament and 29 in the New and book often overlooked, and often thought of as being in the Old Testament is Hebrews which, to my mind is one of the loveliest and instructional of all the books. It is found immediately after the books which have been ascribed to Paul and sits between Paul’s letter to Philemon and the epistle of James (my favourite book).  Although the style is similar to Paul’s, scholars now believe that it was not written by him.

The letter is written specifically to Jews turned Christians and is a very important book for us because it places Jesus’s ministry and death very much in the context of Jewish history and culture at the time making it clear that Jesus’s ministry and death and resurrection is a continuation of God’s endless love for his people; but also warning about the dangers of unbelief – recalling where things had gone wrong in the past in the Old Testament and calling Jesus the one and only great High Priest – emphasising the mission of Paul that salvation is only through Faith alone and not simply by a strict adherence of the Jewish laws. He recalls that it was by Faith that certain things happened in the Old Testament – the falling down of the walls of Jericho, the parting of the Red Sea and so on for example.

In the passage we read this evening, the writer is reminding his readers that throughout their history God has had occasions to rebuke them – and a reading of Judges or many of the Old Testament books give countless examples of where the wrath of God has appeared to fall down on those of his people who have lost their faith or deliberately gone against it.  It is then, the writer of Hebrews says, that God will discipline his sons (followers/us) but he does it, not as punishment, but to get us back on the right track.

At the beginning of this service we acknowledged in the opening prayers that “we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep – we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts”.  Our Christian doctrine and theology acknowledge that we have done and will continue to do this but if we put our faith in our shepherd he will pick us up and bring us back into the fold.

When I swapped those lovely and carefully chosen civil war figures for some cheap cowboys and Indians out of a cereals packet, I was severely admonished by my parents and made to do penance by returning to the scene of my crime, my friend’s house, and swapping them back.  Highly embarrassing for me but I duly did do that, probably cursing my parents as I did so, but it taught me a lesson, the value of things and an appreciation of the gifts given to me by my father.  So much so that even today, 50-odd years later, I can still remember the incident vividly.

The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that our Father God, in disciplining us, is acknowledging us to be a legitimate member of his family – just in the same way when we join a club we are bound by its rules and regulations. It authenticates us. The disciplining we receive from God is often in the form of hardship as part of the refining process to mould us into the persons he wants us to be. In the Old Testament Book of Malachi (Chapter 3) the writer talks about the Messiah coming as the refiner, the purifier, as God’s instrument to make us pure and righteous as he intended.  Refining can appear as a destructive process on first glance but is the first part of making us pure.

Just in the way we should and hopefully did respect our parents, although sometimes it does happen until later in life, so we should love and respect our Father God. We should do it with a good grace.  It’s a simple task – in theory.

My teenage children can be very trying at times and often will challenge my decisions which might not always fall in with their own thoughts and plans; but at the end of the day they invariably do understand why I might have had to “refine them”.  If I have succeeded in doing that and, at the same time understand the same process in my relationship with God, then I can happily throw those books away or give them to somebody else who is currently struggling.

Amen

 

MFB/62