MY NEXT SERMON

I shall next be preaching on Sunday 9th February 2025 at the 11 a.m. Morning Worship service at All Saints' Church, Farley, Wiltshire

SERMON 211 - SUNDAY 12 JANUARY 2025 - BAPTISM OF CHRIST

Sermon at Farley All Saints’ Parish Church, - Baptism of Christ  –  Sunday 12th January 2025

Isaiah 43:1-7; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17,21-22

Today we celebrate the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan; but as well as being such a celebration we are still in the Season of Epiphany – that time when we remember the coming of the wise men or “kings” bearing three prophetic gifts to the infant Jesus – gold to represent his kingship, frankincense to represent his holiness or divinity and myrrh, that perfume with which the dead are anointed to represent the great sacrifice he would later make for all.

However, in these readings we are reminded that not all kings come bearing such gifts.  It has been suggested that John the Baptist’s reference to Jesus, the one who is to come, the Messiah, with a winnowing folk in his hand, to clear the threshing-floor and burning the chaff is a veiled reference to Herod Antipas, who although probably a shadow of his tyrannical father, the old King Herod, is nevertheless probably a danger to modern prophets as John himself would soon find out.

The two New Testament readings, one from Acts and one from Luke’s Gospel, are rich in lessons for us today. In our epistle reading from Acts we read, straight away, that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God.  Historically, the Samaritans and the Jews had been at logger-heads – distrusting each other. Just like many divided communities today, they had each built up over many generations a hatred for each other.  In very simple terms, it arose because of fundamental religious differences – like so many conflicts we see in the world now.  Samaritans believed that their form of worship was the “true Jewish religion” because Samaritans had remained in the land of Israel during the period of the Babylonian Exile whereas those who went into exile and returned had had their religion tainted by leaving the Holy Land. It is true to say, therefore, that both Jew and Samaritan believed in God but not necessarily where the Word came from.  Now we read that following on from Jesus’s ministry they truly believed the same as those early Christians.  Christianity as a global phenomenon was being established.

This is why the words of John are so important. Up until the time Jesus began his ministry – which was on the day that he was baptised by John, those who wished to accept the New Testament of God acknowledged and accepted this by being baptised in the Jordan – baptism of water.  A symbolic act to wash away the old life and begin the new – what John called “metanoia” or repentance; an acceptance of the new way.  We do this today.  However, with Jesus would come the Holy Spirit to all who wanted it – “He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and Fire” – in other words not only will you be changed through the cleansing of your body as a symbol of washing away the old tainted ways, but you will also have something brand new bestowed upon you.

We read towards the end of the passage in Luke how this was revealed to the people. After Jesus had been through the ritualistic baptism with water, Heaven, we read, was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form like a dove.  You will all recall that it was also the dove which came back to Noah’s Ark with an olive branch in its beak to indicate that the cleansing of the world, by the Great Flood, was now over and a new world can begin; it is also the dove which for generations has been the symbol for peace and the messenger of peace throughout the world; a symbol of new beginnings and of understanding between all peoples.

With the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus, he was able to share that spirit with all who came to him and sought and followed his ministry and, as we know following his death, resurrection and ascension, at Pentecost the Spirit descended upon all who sought it.  That is precisely where we find ourselves today.  The Wise Men came bearing gifts to the infant Jesus, Jesus himself, through his ministry, death and resurrection has bestowed the greatest gift of all, the Holy Spirit, free and unconditionally to all who seek it.  Actually, there is one condition, and that is that having received it you do not grieve it – that is do not renounce it or denigrate.

I believe the world is, today, hungrier for the Holy Spirit than at any other time.  Sometimes we get so caught up with our own little worlds that we forget that we all live in one greater world; but it is not all that great.  We are all living on a planet, a spaceship which is less than 8,000 miles in diameter in the vastness of a cold and hostile universe, billions and billions of light years across – if it has any boundaries.  It is the only home we have and really one which we can only ever have this side of the grave.  Jesus, we are told by John, came into the world to save the world not to condemn it.

We read this morning and we have just discussed how he brought with him that greatest of extra-terrestrial gifts – the Holy Spirit; that is the presence of God here on Earth. These last few words I have spoken remind me of the words of the 1930s and 1940s film comedian Will Hay – star of “Oh Mr Porter” – who, as William T. Hay, was an accomplished amateur astronomer – when he said “If we were all astronomers there would be no more wars”.

Similarly, a few years ago I watched the movie “Don’t Look Up” starring Jennifer Lawrence, Mark Rylance and Leo DiCaprio.  It is a little wacky but the essence of it is that in today’s modern age we spend a lot of time looking down at our devices and accepting what social media is saying, or not saying, and not enough time looking up and around us and discovering reality for ourselves. In the case of this film there is a large comet heading straight for Earth which will destroy the planet in six months’ time. The politicians and media people don’t seem to care, worrying more about mid-term elections and the love lives of celebrities.  In fact, social media and politicians start a campaign doubting the existence of the comet despite the scientists’ assurances.  Does that ring any bells? 

In fact since I watched that film in 2021, it seems that its relevance to what we see going on in 2025 is greater than ever!  I heard a lawyer remark, on the radio on Friday, with regard to the news stories surrounding our Prime Minister and the “grooming gangs” debacle, that people are listening and relying more and more on the “15 – minutes on social media experts”, rather than the true experts in the field who have been studying these cases over 15 years. In fact, the result of repeating lies and disinformation is leading to the re-traumatising of some of the historic victims.

Sometimes, I think that those of us who know the true nature of God’s love and compassion for Humankind are crying in the wilderness just like John, but cry we must otherwise we have no chance of being heard at all if we totally give in or give up.

I am reminded of a notice displayed at Auschwitz I Concentration camp in Poland written by Pastor Martin Niemoller which reads

“First they came for the Communists

 And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist

 Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew

 Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

John the Baptist spoke out and encouraged those around him to repent – metanoia; to look at things afresh. To wash away the old and tainted and to step out clean, refreshed and into a new world with Jesus Christ as our king and saviour. As true Christians we should honour the pledges he made on our behalf – to move forward with the aid of the Holy Spirit, never grieving it but upholding it, promoting it and its powers and making disciples of others.

God bless you all in your continued fellowship and ministry here in Farley over the next twelve months and may you too have the courage to speak out and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit here alongst us now..

 

Amen                                                                                           

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(An updated version of Sermon 168 delivered in 2022).

SERMON 210 - SUNDAY 8 JANUARY 2025 - EPIPHANY

 

Sermon delivered at All Saints’ Church, Whiteparish – Sunday 8 January 2025 – Epiphany Sunday

Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12

May I speak in the name of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

May I start this morning’s sermon by wishing you all a Very Happy New Year and I look forward to continuing to minister to you in this lovely church and parish for many years to come.  A very special place indeed for Liz and I, being where we got married just over eight years ago. How time races on!

As we enter this New Year let us continue to pray for peace and prosperity not only in our own community and country but throughout the world.  Jesus came into the world to bring light to a dark world and to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God and so, as we enter 2025 let us, as his Christian Family do all we can to make that dream a reality.

Last year, I took this same service with its same readings and chose to concentrate on the gospel passage describing the coming of the Magi – who are more commonly described as wise men, astrologers or even kings.  Last year we looked at where they might have come from, and what celestial object they might have actually observed in the night sky which led them to travel from, possibly, Babylon to Bethlehem.  I am still intrigued by what it was, comet, planetary conjunction or was it simply supernatural.  I am intending to put together an astronomical talk on the subject for a future occasion, but today, as we enter 2025, a year which I think will see some monumental global changes, I would like to concentrate on the passage of scripture from Paul’s letter to the Church in Ephesus which we heard read out this morning.

I think it would be helpful and interesting if I read out that passage again, but this time from Eugene Petersen’s paraphrased translation of the Bible known as “The Message”:

^1-3 This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so-called. I take it that you’re familiar with the part I was given in God’s plan for including everybody. I got the inside story on this from God himself, as I just wrote you in brief.

^4-6 As you read over what I have written to you, you’ll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ. None of our ancestors understood this. Only in our time has it been made clear by God’s Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order. The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I’ve been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board.

^7-8 This is my life’s work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

^8-10 And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

^11-13 All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

The essence of Paul’s message is that he finds himself in prison for preaching a new message, one seeming to be at variance to ancient Hebrew teaching and he refers to those who have changed their theology into understanding and following Christ, as well as those who have not yet even heard of Jesus as “outsiders”. Paul is reminding his readers, and thereby through the study of the biblical scripture to us, that Christ came into the world for everyone, not just those who felt chosen by following the law, but very much those who appeared to be outsiders – the poor, the sinners, the sick and so on.  Those who seemed to be on the outside of society just as the early followers had been placed on the outside through their following Christ instead of simply following Hebrew law and tradition.

This is emphasised, I believe, by those who were given special notice of Christ’s coming into the world – the shepherds out in the fields – shepherds were especially despised and looked upon as the lowest of the low and the Magi who werer foreigners – outsiders pure and simple.

It always gives me such comfort that the light – Jesus – came for the poor and outcast of the world.  “The word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us” as John puts it at the beginning of his Gospel.  “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overwhelm it; but the darkness does not understand it”

This leads me to say, once again, something about how Paul’s words and the Epiphany story have such a great significance and relevance to us today – some 2,000 years later. Indeed, as we see global politics polarising more and more with the left wing and the right wing seeming to divide further and further apart, we see, through the influence of the media, social and public, people flocking to their own kind - a type of herding instinct often without discernment; something which I have mentioned before and which the journalist James O’Brien has termed “footballing” - taking the example of the tribal nature of football fans for the way in which we stick to our own group come what may.

Everywhere in the world today we see people “footballing” creating cultures of “them and us”.  To some extent that is human nature but is it the true nature of Christianity? Are we not better than that?

Daily I pray for discernment – to be able to see the light of True Christianity from the darkness of so many Fake Doctrines.  The birth of Jesus was meant to break the “Them and Us” culture by abolishing the word “Them” for ever, leaving only with a society of “Us”. 

He came for all – rich and poor, homegrown and foreigner.  We seem, today, to live in a deeply divided and ungodly world.  Once more a very dark world with war and conflict between nations as well as civil wars both over territory and culture/doctrine. Our Western culture seems to be dominated by selfishness and self-centredness. Instead of being in a state of self-awareness we seem to be living in a world of self-righteousness and blame with people using terms like “woke” in a derogatory manner to discredit often genuine concerns for people who are different from ourselves.  Very often people look to blame others because they cannot bring themselves to examine their own lives and sins.

So, in conclusion, in addition to prayer for the world and the darkness of war, conflict, famine, climate change and natural disasters is there an area of pain and darkness in your own life or the life of your family and friends or community?  How can you ask God to bring his light within it to shine away the fear which that darkness brings?  How will you seek out that light – be it bright or dim in your life just now? Finally, what will you do to bring God’s message, the Good News, to those who haven’t heard it or who have rejected it? How will you bring an outsider into the warmth of God’s love?

Let us pause for a moment and reflect upon this – PAUSE –

Let us pray

God of light, we thank you that you are present everywhere, even when we cannot see you. As the Wise Men saw the unusual light in night sky all those years ago and followed it to Jesus please shine your light into the difficult places of the world and our lives, and help us to listen and help those who are different from ourselves to know and love you.

Amen                                                                                  

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SERMON 209 - WEDNESDAY 25 DECEMBER 2024 - CHRISTMAS DAY

Sermon at All Saint’s Church, Farley - Christmas Day Morning Communion – Sunday 25 December 2024

Luke 2:1-20 

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

“Are you all prepared for today’s celebration? Turkey in the oven, potatoes and brussels pealed, presents opened already or under the tree waiting to be unwrapped? Prosecco in the fridge chilling?  Do you know what films you will be watching after the King’s Speech or games you will be playing?”

That is how I started my Christmas Day sermon last year when I led the service here and it is a great privilege to be back with you on this very special day.

Christmas is a time of great joy, expectancy and celebration. Yet, all too often, we lose ourselves in the preparations and miss the sacredness of the season. Why does it matter? Because it’s this holiday on which we honour the birth of our Saviour. It’s this time of year when people are open to the things of God. And it’s precisely this season when Christians most often lose sight of what’s available to them in Christ Jesus.

We are all people created in God’s image. We have access to his presence and his promises. So why all the strain and stress? Dare we ask ourselves what honestly matters most to us this Christmas?

God invites us to push away the clutter, turn down the noise and offer him the sacred space in our lives so that the King of Glory may enter, take up residence and radically change us from the inside out. We can race through our holiday season more stressed than blessed or we can slow down, ponder the reality of Christ within us and respond to his miraculous work. 

So why not step out of the hustle-bustle of the season. Find a quiet place during this busy time to rest and reflect. What comes to the surface for you? How have the disappointments and detours of this past year impacted you? Are you mad? Sad? Expectant and glad? Most of us tend to loosen our grip when we lose heart, yet this is precisely the time to lean in, engage our faith and dare to believe that our Saviour is also a healer.

At that first Christmas, God sent Jesus into the world as a Man, to be God himself incarnate to dwell among us and after His, resurrection and ascension Jesus went on to leave the Holy Spirit in each and everyone of us willing to accept and acknowledge Him. To truly live within us.

In fact, it is good to remember that God sent Jesus into the world for all Human Kind not just the chosen.  I was reminded, only a few days ago by a non-Christian fellow astronomer that whilst she wasn’t “religious”, as she put it, she fully believed that as all Humankind as far as we know will be found in only one place in the Cosmos, on this tiny planet Earth, we should all work together as a Team not divided by greed, envy, conflict, poverty, race, creed, colour or any of the other many things which separate us.

The one great message or result of Christmas, the coming of Christ, is that it is meant to banish one word from our language, “them”. There should no longer be “them and us” anymore.  To illustrate this, I would just like to share the following with you to reflect upon over this next week:

The twentieth-century English mystic Caryll Houselander (1901–1954) describes how an ordinary underground train journey in London transformed into a powerful vision of Christ dwelling in all people: 

“I was in an underground train, a crowded train in which all sorts of people jostled together, sitting and strap-hanging—workers of every description going home at the end of the day. Quite suddenly I saw with my mind, but as vividly as a wonderful picture, Christ in them all. But I saw more than that; not only was Christ in every one of them, living in them, dying in them, rejoicing in them, sorrowing in them—but because He was in them, and because they were here, the whole world was here too … all those people who had lived in the past, and all those yet to come.  

Houselander’s vision of the intimate presence of Christ in each person continued as she walked along the city streets:  

I came out into the street and walked for a long time in the crowds. It was the same here, on every side, in every passer-by, everywhere—Christ…. 

I saw too the reverence that everyone must have for a sinner; instead of condoning [their] sin, which is in reality [their] utmost sorrow, one must comfort Christ who is suffering in [them]. And this reverence must be paid even to those sinners whose souls seem to be dead, because it is Christ, who is the life of the soul, who is dead in them; they are His tombs, and Christ in the tomb is potentially the risen Christ…. 

Christ is everywhere; in Him every kind of life has a meaning and has an influence on every other kind of life…. Realization of our oneness in Christ is the only cure for human loneliness. For me, too, it is the only ultimate meaning of life, the only thing that gives meaning and purpose to every life. 

After a few days the “vision” faded. People looked the same again, there was no longer the same shock of insight for me each time I was face to face with another human being. Christ was hidden again; indeed, through the years to come I would have to seek for Him, and usually I would find Him in others—and still more in myself—only through a deliberate and blind act of faith.”

 

This Christmas and New Year we see the world in chaos and the potential escalation of many local conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe into a major war. We daily read in our newspapers, hear on our radios and see on our screens, the inhumanity of Humanity. We hear and view the dreadful news coming from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine and many other parts of the world and the triumph of brutal and tyrannical leaders.

The king of the universe is not a tyrannical leader. He’s the saviour of the world. Although we hear the Christmas story every year, again and again, it isn’t old news. It’s good news. It’s now news! Salvation isn’t just an addendum to the end of our life and Christmas isn’t just a quaint little story with shepherds and wise men coming to a stable in Bethlehem. When Jesus was born, God’s kingdom came to earth! so we ought to celebrate with joy. Give meaningful gifts to those you love. Enjoy a good party. But refuse to let the commercialism of Christmas quench the true spirit of this earth-shaking holiday season. Jesus came, and he's coming again.  Let us worship the king of glory, for he has done great things.   Let us also worship him by the way we speak and act towards others over this Christmas period.

Giving gifts to the already rich is, well, fine. But offering gifts to those who cannot repay you is sacred. In the period between Christmas and New Year why not give generously and thoughtfully to someone who doesn’t expect a gift from you. Perhaps somebody who hasn’t been kind to you during the year? Surprise them with the goodness of God. Scripture reminds us that he’s good to everyone and by doing this you are really showing God’s grace in action.

When we set out to be a serious follower of Christ, we’ll often find a thousand excuses to tend to temporary things as though they’re the most important things in the world. But eternal rewards come from eternal priorities. We need to think higher, see deeper. Repeatedly, Jesus urged people to open their eyes and see the coming kingdom. See the story God is writing on the earth through us because of Jesus. Our current season is packed with eternal possibilities to do so.

We can and should change our focus, determine our pace, adjust our priorities and this could be our most life-giving Christmas yet. Whether we already walk intimately with Jesus or see him more like a distant relative, we can be assured, as illustrated in Caryll Houselander’s vision that he’s very near and that he came to redeem every aspect of who we are. That was the greatest gift ever given at Christmas – the birth of Jesus Christ, God Incarnated, in that humble stable in the Holy Land.  Let there be no more “them and us” but just “us”.

Now that is really something to celebrate and reflect upon over these coming days.

Have a great day, enjoy being with family and friends over this holiday period, and yes do eat, drink and be merry in celebration but do use this time also to tell somebody about the true meaning of Christmas and the wonderful good news which is there for everyone and is the real reason for our celebrations.

A very Happy Christmas to you all.

 

 

Susie Larson (who inspired this sermon through a daily devotional piece written by her) is a bestselling author, speaker and host of Susie Larson Live. She is the author of more than 20 books and devotionals, and her Daily Blessings reach over half a million people each week on social media. She and her husband, Kevin, have three children, a growing bunch of grandchildren and a pit bull named Memphis.

 

Amen                                                                                                 MFB/209/22122024

SERMON 208 - SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER 2024 - ADVENT 3

Sermon at St. Mary’s Church, Alderbury  – Advent 3  – Sunday 15 December 2024

Luke 3:7-18

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and may these words be yours Lord, and may you bless all who hear them. Amen.

A Dutch theologian, Johannes Halkendijk, tells this story that took place World War:-

“During the Nazi occupation of Holland, the Nazis planned to deport Jewish children to concentration camps. A Dutch resistant group had been formed and one arm of this resistance decided to do what they could to save these children. A group of 300 people, children and resistance leaders, were gathered together and were hiding. What they did not know was that someone in their own group had betrayed them to the Nazis. They were found and taken to a detention centre. There they heard that they would be taken, not to a concentration camp, but to a crematorium where they would be killed. When the day to be taken away came, both Christian resistance leaders and Jewish children boarded the same cattle cars together, to share the same fate. The trip lasted a few days. One morning, just after sunrise, the train stopped and word was given that they were to get out of the train. They got out, expecting to find themselves surrounded by guards. Instead, they were standing in the middle of a pasture. They were not in Germany or Poland, but in Switzerland. The train, while it was taking them to their death, had been taken over and liberated during the night. As a result, these 300 people, were not recipients of the death they expected, but of a new life.”

"Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand". This is the message that John the Baptist proclaimed by the Jordan some 2,000 years ago. It is a message that we still see on signs today. "You better change, or else."  I feel the same when I view signs often seen on posts outside some evangelical free churches or as carried by street preachers which say "The wages of sin are death". Nothing is wrong with these words, they are God’s word and are true. But by themselves, without a word of explanation, they may offer as little hope as the train ride did for the resistance leaders and children back on that train. At least that is how many people feel about the message of repentance.

And yet as verses 18 tells us, John exhorted the people and preached good news to them. For the message of repentance, when understood properly is not a ride to a death camp but a ride to a pasture of new life.

The key words in this passage of scripture we heard today are contained in the question posed to John the Baptist by the crowd when, after being called a brood of vipers who hadn’t seemed to have changed their ways in years, ask the question which I think we would all ask in such circumstances “So what are we to do then?”  Indeed, it is a good an honest question. We can talk about repentance, we can even study the Greek name for it “metanoia” which the Blue Letter Bible translates as “a change in one’s way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion” or, simply put, “a change of heart”.  I have also heard it defined as being a turning around suggesting going back to a way in which we may have behaved before.

What are we to do, then to repent and become saved?

John gives the answer in great detail – in summary he says: share what you have with those who have not, both food and clothing; don’t exhort money asking for more than is due – John emphasises that even the tax-collectors who were despised by the Jewish people of the day can be baptised and repent. Indeed, many of the examples given were echoed by Jesus in his later ministry and often this passage is confused with being spoken by Jesus himself.

John tells the crowd that the time is coming when Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit not just with water – a true infilling of the Holy Spirit leading to a direct connection and communication with God.

Indeed, later, when asked by the elders what was the most important of the Commandments given to Moses, Jesus responded that there were two – the second of which was to love and treat one another as God loves u and as we would have others treat us.

Throughout my years of ministry, it is this second Commandment upon which I have preached the most and will continue to do so until the day my ministry ends.

Unlike the crowd being addressed by John in this passage of scripture, through the life and ministry of Jesus and his great sacrifice upon the Cross, we already have the Holy spirit within us and, as Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:16) we now have the mind of Jesus which means it should be automatic and natural to do all those things which John says we need to do to repent. Therefore, by spreading the good news, as John did, we hope to make others understand and want to act in this way.

We are told that this is precisely what John did - he exhorted the people and preached the good news to them in the very last verse, and we as good Christians are called upon to do that in our daily lives by the way we speak, act and direct. So this Advent and Christmas tide, what are you going to do and how well are we prepared to do it?

May the Lord bless you with peace and joy this Christ time.

Amen                                                                                                 MFB/208/13122024

SERMON 207 - SUNDAY 8 DECEMBER 2024 - ADVENT 2

Sermon at St. John’s Church, West Grimstead and Farley All Saints’ Church – Advent 2  – Sunday 8 December 2024

Luke 3:1-6

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and may these words be yours Lord, and may you bless all who hear them. Amen.

A few years ago, I was asked to give a talk and lead a stargazing session at West Dean Social Club’s Midsummer Evening’s Party.  Not a great date to go stargazing as it doesn’t get dark until 11 p.m. and then not entirely dark enough for astronomers to do much work.  However, people did stay on after an excellent Middle-Eastern supper (the theme was the Arabian Nights). 

As daylight began to fade and twilight approached somebody asked me what the bright star in the west was.  It was the planet Venus and I knew this because it was expected to appear shortly after sunset in the west; but try as I might I could not see it for myself. I later on discovered that I had the beginning of cataracts which is no good ailment for an astronomer and as time went on, I discovered more and more that my fellow stargazers could see things with their naked eye, and even through optical instruments, which evaded my sight.

Earlier this week, on Tuesday morning in fact, I had the cataract in my left eye removed with a replacement lens and 36 hours later I was amazed at how my sight had improved. Things were sharp, objects which before had appeared a light grey were revealed to be brilliant blue, I no longer required spectacles except for reading and on Thursday night I was able to try out my new eye on the wonders of the celestial heavens and to my amazement I could See zillions of stars more in my left eye than my right. I now can’t wait to get the right eye fixed too.

I started to reflect upon how my eyesight had slowly gone downhill.  Like the brakes on a car, as they wear down so we adjust by putting that extra pressure with our foot on the pedal to compensate. Likewise with our eyes, we turn up the brilliance on our devices and the lights in our houses. I also took to wearing stronger reading glasses. We make adjustments in our selves rather than tackle the problem at its root cause and we allow ourselves to be convinced that we can manage and adjust to the changing circumstances.

In our Gospel Reading this morning, we heard the now very familiar story of the ministry of Jesus’s cousin, John the Baptist who, we learn, went into all the region around the Jordan to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and to proclaim the coming of Christ, the Messiah as foretold by the prophet Isaiah some hundreds of years previously.

Back then, the world seemed to reject God as we read in the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi.  I do recommend you read it as, in many ways, it seems to foretell how our world is today – lacking any enthusiasm for God our Creator and treating Faith as an irrelevance when we can take control of our own destiny.  Today’s world seems to be about image and control, and money and wealth of course; and so it was back then.

I celebrated my seventieth birthday last year. I have lived more than my three score years and ten and during that period I have seen enormous changes in the world and in this country in particular; probably none more so than attitudes towards the Church.

In recent weeks our own Anglican Communion has been beset by scandals and issues which have rocked its very being. We seem to be on the verge of another schism.  I have even been approached by members of a different denomination enquiring why and how I can stay within the Church of England when it seems to be so unbiblical?

My response is that my strength continues to lie in my Faith which is founded on the Gospel of the Good News of Jesus coming into the world, to lighten and brighten it.  To save the sinners, to comfort the poor and to bring God’s Kingdom to Earth.

As I have discovered over the last few days, by placing my trust into the hands of medical experts and an eye surgeon, in effect having faith in him, I have been brought into the light of the world, literally, which had become darkened for so long because I “coped” with the malady on my own.

John the Baptist, appeared during the period of waiting for the Light of World to appear and he encouraged people to repent and be saved through baptism. Likewise, as we wait for Christmas, during this period of Advent reflections, let us think about how we might have contributed towards or ignored any darkening in our own lives by not reaching out for the lantern which is Jesus Christ.  In the words of Psalm 119:105: –

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path; it shows me the way wherein I should go, both night and day”.

We light candles on the Advent Wreath as a reminder of that light. In some churches we would also have had individual candles to remind us that as Christians it is our duty to carry that light of salvation – the way we should go – to all we meet in our daily lives.

Whenever we stray¸ when the world seems dark and cruel, when we feel we can no longer see God, remember he is all around us and by accepting Him and following Him we are in communication with God our Creator who made all things – from the tiniest of living creatures on Earth to the vastness of the Universe itself.  As John the Baptist told us, we need only repent of our sins to be cleansed. If we all followed that mantra then I am certain the world would be a better place.

Just as that cataract of dimness was removed from my eye, so through the adherence of our Faith, so the dimness in our lives can be removed and replaced by the glorious light of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth.

And, just before I end, you might be interested to learn that this Christmas there will be two “Stars of Bethlehem”. On Christmas Eve, it will be possible to see the planet Venus in the West at Sunset at the same time of being able to see the bright planet Jupiter in the East.

Wishing you all a Happy Advent and Festive Season ahead.

 

Amen                                                                                                 MFB/207/06122024

 

SERMON 206 - SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER 2024 - TRINITY 20 / HARVEST FESTIVAL

Sermon at St. John’s Church, West Grimstead - Trinity 20/Harvest – Sunday 13 October 2024

Mark 10:17-31

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and may these words be yours Lord, and may you bless all who hear them. Amen.

“Here comes that man again, running up to Jesus with a question about eternal life. We can hear those dreaded words on Jesus’ lips even before the man approaches: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Even before Mark tells us so, we know that the rich young man will turn away grieving, for he has many possessions. And some of us grieve with him as we see him leave, knowing his choice could be ours as well.”

Thus, begins a sermon by an American pastor, Stacey Simpson.

She then goes on to recount that she remembers the first time she read the story at the age of 7 in her childhood bible book. She tells how she was so alarmed when she reached verse 25 that she slammed the Bible shut, jumped out of bed, and went running down the hall and shaking her my mother out of a sound sleep. “Mom,” she whispered urgently, “Jesus says that rich people don’t go to heaven!”

“We are not rich. Go back to bed,” came her mother’s response.

The little seven-year old girl knew better. She knew that she and her family had all they needed plus plenty more. She would later learn of fascinating attempts to soften the text (the use of the word “camel” for “rope,” or “eye of the needle” for “a small gate”), but the little girl inside her knew that these words of Jesus were clear and hard and scary.

Mark 10:17-31 hangs on the question of eternal life. The rich man wants to know how to get it. The disciples want to know who can have it. And the good news that Jesus offers is this: “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

This story can be regarded as one of the gospel’s healing stories. The rich man runs up to Jesus and kneels, just as countless other Jesus-pursuers have done throughout the Book of Mark. The scene is set for him to request and receive healing, and his running and kneeling show that his request is both urgent and sincere. But he is the one and only person in the entire book who rejects the healing offered him.

We read, in Mark’s account that “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” Matthew and Luke leave this out. But Mark, who seems always spare with words, takes the space to note that Jesus loves this man. He offers him healing. “You lack one thing”, he says; “go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (In Mark, the word “go” is used almost exclusively in the healing stories.)

What is the healing that this man needs? What he lacks is that he does not lack. This man is possessed—but only by his possessions. Jesus is offering to free him of his possession, to cure him of his excess. But the rich man turns his back.

Stacey Simpson goes on to say that she too grieves because she has accumulated so much since first reading this text. Likewise, I am constantly being reminded by my wife that we have “too much stuff” and really need to rid ourselves of so many possessions we either do not use or do not need. Stacey raises an interesting question for us. Are we also possessed, but only of possessions? Are we refusing to be healed by Jesus? What can we do to inherit eternal life? Jesus tells his disciples - Nothing. For mortals it’s impossible. But not for God. To say we must give up all our wealth in order to be saved puts the burden on us to save ourselves. Neither wealth nor divestment of wealth saves us. God does.

Our Harvest Festival service today reminds us, as we sing in our hymns, that all good gifts are sent from Heaven above. That whilst we might sow and then nurture that sown grain, we still rely upon God to send us the rain and the sun to grow and ripen it. It is a reminder that without God and the nature which he has created, we can do nothing.

For the young rich ruler, it was a test. Jesus truly loved him and his sentiments to want to follow the Christian way but when the crunch came, he simply could not part with his possessions. He could not change his life-style and be saved.

Even Jesus realized he could not save himself. Those who think they can will surely lose their lives. But those who recognize the utter futility of self-reliance, who realize that their salvation really is not possible, will be saved by the God who makes all things possible.

Yes, there is still the problem of having too much stuff. It keeps us from realizing our need for God because we use it as a buffer against vulnerability. We use it to fill the emptiness in our souls. We use it to feel less susceptible to the vagaries of life. It keeps us from seeing how needy we actually are and gives us a false sense of security.

The rich man’s secure status in life led him to keep asking the wrong question: What can I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus’ response was that there was nothing he or anyone else could do. And Jesus told him to release his wealth and give it to the poor—to grow closer perhaps to the fragility of life, to take his own place among the poor.

The poor, the sick, the demon-possessed and the children of whom Jesus speaks all live close to the fragility of life. They are thus more likely and more able to respond to a vulnerable Christ. The disciples freed themselves of what would stand between them and that fragility and were somehow able to follow the One whose life would soon be a ransom for many. In many ways we have to be like children, as Jesus reminded us in our gospel reading from Mark last week, or like those who know they are really sick or like disciples who have let go of all the things they once relied on—in order even to see how much we need Jesus.

What must we do to inherit eternal life? We must let go of all that we have and all that we do that gets in the way of seeing that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Even then, letting go of it all is beyond our capacity. The hardest news Jesus has is the best news we could get—our salvation is impossible except for God.

To conclude, I can recall an instance of my own when I knew somebody who once said to me “I don’t need to go to church any more, I don’t need God, I have everything I want – a successful career, a lovely wife and family, a big house and a secure financial future”.  A few months after making that statement he suffered a severe stroke which, fortunately, was not fatal and he did recover, but that one devastating event changed his whole outlook on life and Faith and he praised God for his eventual although lengthy return to health.

In saying that it is difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of Heaven, it is not just by being rich, per se, but by allowing our possessions and the love of those possessions get in the way of the true richness of loving Christ and being close to him through the knowledge of our fragility and the need for perseverance – “to go through the severe times”; for as Paul writes in his letter to the Romans (5:3-5)  “we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit…”

Jesus himself had to persevere through the Passion and the Cross – an example to us all and a reminder for us not to take for granted that we do not need God’s love and grace so that we can really prosper as his children.

 

Amen                                                                                                 MFB/206/09102024