SERMON 151 - SUNDAY 9 AUGUST 2020

 Sermon on 9^th Sunday after Trinity  -  Clarendon Team Service during Coronvirus Lockdown   – Sunday 9th August 2020

Matthew 14:22-33

Peter, joining Jesus in walking on the water is one of my favourite passages in the New Testament. It is a passage which gets to the very heart of faith, of trusting in Jesus in our lives, of taking a risk, a chance, of answering a call with all its seeming dangers.  In short, it is a metaphor for how we should live as Christians in a world so full of dangers.

Let’s look at the passage, though in the whole.  This scene follows on from those we have been hearing over the last few weeks – the parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds and all those other short parables; the feeding of the five thousand.  Jesus has been busy teaching to vast numbers of people who have been following him around wanting to hear more and more from him following his teaching at the Sermon on the Mount.  He is like a modern day “pop idol” and it is clear that he is becoming weary and needs some recharging of his batteries, both physically and spiritually.

We therefore find him, at the beginning of the passage dismissing his disciples and sending them on their way to the other side of the Sea of Galilee whilst he has some quiet time away from them and everyone up a mountain praying to his Father.  This is the first of the important revelations for us – even Jesus in human form needed some R and R and also needed to commune with his Father through prayer. We like Jesus need to take this example and first and foremost ensure that we are in a good place ourselves.

For a second time we then read that the boat carrying the disciples is being battered by waves on the lake.  People who have visited the Holy Land have told me that even today massive storms can suddenly spring up on this inland lake due to winds funnelling down the Jordan and that they can be terrifying. Again it seems that the disciples are fearful because they are still far from the shore and if you have ever been in a sailing boat you will know how difficult it is to reach land if the wind is against you.  It requires much skill at tacking and can add many miles on to your journey.  This is presumably what the disciples were doing when a ghostly figure comes walking towards them across the turbulent waves.  It must have really added to their fear thinking that perhaps their time was up! 

Then suddenly they hear a familiar voice and a reassurance not to be afraid. Jesus doesn’t appear to admonish them as seemed to be the case in the earlier story of his calming the storm.  Perhaps the disciples now, at long last, realised the strength and power of Jesus in being able to command the winds and the waves. In fact Peter has such bravado that he invites Jesus to command him to get out of the boat and walk towards him.  Once again, Peter seems to be putting on a bit of show to try and show the others that his faith is so strong.

Jesus responds by beckoning him saying “come”!   I have a wonderful vision of Peter suddenly getting cold feet at having his bluff called.  I am sure that would be me! So Peter, having made his declaration steps out of the boat and finds himself able to walk on the surface of the lake.  I am sure he was shocked and surprised possibly to the extent that suddenly he thinks about what he is doing, realises the waves are still turbulent and starts to sink.  Suddenly his faith is put in doubt by the circumstances surrounding him.  Surely it’s not possible, it goes against nature and the waves are truly dangerous.

Jesus catches him, puts a reassuring arm on Peter’s shoulder asking him why he had such little faith and doubt.  The disciples are reassured that they have been re-united with Jesus and are reminded that he is the Son of God.

Don’t we all sometimes feel and act like Peter?  This story also illustrates and foretells Peter’s denial of Jesus too on Good Friday morning.  When the going gets tough Peter’s faith and loyalty evaporates.  Jesus knew this in advance but Peter’s intentions were always good.  Peter being a fisherman would have known the Lake and its weather systems well.  In going out to great Jesus on the water he would have known the dangers.  At first he put everything to the back of his mind and simply followed Jesus’s calling.  All was fine and he achieved what he really wanted to do – walk on the water with Jesus. Only when he let his mind start to question the logic of what he was doing did he start to sink.

We ourselves must learn from this.  Not to blindly follow but to have the faith that when we are called we will be protected by the one who calls us and we will never be called upon to do something which is not possible. Faith is about believing and obeying.  We will then be able to walk forward and not sink. As our faith grows, like the mustard seed, so we too may be called to greater and seemingly more impossible things. The message is simple - Have faith and grow. 

SERMON 150 - SUNDAY 26 JULY 2020

Sermon on 7^th Sunday after Trinity  -  Clarendon Team Service during Coronvirus Lockdown   – Sunday 26th July 2020

Matthew 13:31-33; 44-52

I just love the three “Ps” of the bible, the Psalms, the Proverbs and the Parables because each of them, in their own way, addresses everyday thoughts and problems and enables us to theologically reflect on them.  In my role as a spiritual director I often use modern day analogies and quotes from the three “Ps” in order to get across theological ideas which otherwise might be difficult to understand.  This is precisely what Jesus did, time and time again during his ministry.  He used everyday situations which everybody folk could understand and he used them to explain difficult concepts such as, in this morning’s case, what he means when he talks of “The Kingdom of Heaven”. Here we find him using not just one parable or analogy but five!  These five stories would appeal each in turn to a gardener, a cook, a treasure hunter, a collector of fine things and last but not least fishermen, with whom he was very well acquainted.

The common theme here is, though, that the Kingdom of Heaven is not easily found and is not obvious at first. We must seek it out and be patient whilst doing so.  The mustard seed will indeed grow into a fine tree capable of harbouring birds and wild life but we must tender it and wait for it to grow.  Likewise, we can make unleaven, that is flat bread, quite quickly and easily with just water and flour– but if we want the more substantial leaven or raised bread we need to add in a small amount of another ingredient called yeast and carefully knead the dough in preparation.  The treasure hunter, in order to legitimately lay claim to the treasure he has buried away in a field must first of all buy the field in order to legally acquire the treasure. The pearl collector may have to sacrifice much of his present wealth and collection in order to acquire that one great pearl which he wishes to possess.  Finally, the fisherman cast out their net for certain edible fish but when the net is hauled in they find a myriad of fish caught in the meshes and therefore must painstakingly sort through them to find those which are of most value for food.

These are all great analogies from which we learn that the Kingdom of Heaven is all around us if we take the time and trouble and patience to find it.

The last analogy which Jesus uses is one that particularly appeals to me.  I was brought up in the fishing town of Grimsby – at that time the world’s premier fishing port; a wealthy place whose economy was built on the catching and processing of good quality white fish. My own grandfather was a trawler skipper and many of my friends came from fishing families. They would tell me how the fishermen would go out for three weeks or more at a time hunting for the best fish to bring back.  But, in the process, they would often catch other fish which they would try out first on board to see if there might be a market for them. They would, like our fishermen in the parable, carefully sift through the catch.  One such fish which they had previously discarded was the monkfish because of its horrible appearance but they found the tail to taste a lot like scampi. Today, monkfish is a delicacy and costs a lot more than the average white fish.  It is an example of where there was something there already but it needed a lot of patience and trial before its worth was acquired.

In the parable Jesus likens the sorting of the fish as the final judgment when those who are righteous will be separated from the evil. That is quite a hard concept for many of us to swallow and reminds us of the Doom paintings which once adorned many of our churches.

I think the essence of Jesus’s teaching here is that we must always have good intentions. Being righteous is doing things for the right reasons.  It I all well and good to sow mustard seeds, bake bread, buy treasure, collect pearls, sort out fish and so on but if we are doing these things for selfish reasons, not right or righteous ones, then we are far from finding the Kingdom of Heaven.

Tom Wright puts it this way: “The little parables in Matthew 13 are all, in their different ways answers to the question “Where is the Kingdom of Heaven and when will it come?”  “Perhaps”, he says, these are the only sorts of answer we can ever give.”

The tiny seed will grow, the leaven will work through the lump of yeast, the treasure is presently hidden, but those who find it will know its worth like the pearl, and finally, one day maybe the peculiar and odd fish, like our monkfish, will be sorted out and perhaps found to be good too. The Kingdom of Heaven is truly here and one day it will be obvious; but in the meantime we must be patient and wait.

Amen 

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