SERMON 50 - SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2014

Sermon at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Chapel, Whaddon, Salisbury Evening Prayer - Sunday - Sunday 23 November 2014

2 Samuel 23:1-7;  Matthew 28: 16-End

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

Today we celebrate the Festival of Christ the King, a Festival very much for the Church united here on Earth – a reminder that the Kingdom of God and Christ’s reign on Earth is here and now and not at some future time.  It is, therefore, quite fitting for us to be worshipping together this evening in this lovely chapel at an ecumenical service where we as Christians, both Catholics and Anglicans, can put aside any denominational differences and spend an hour in praise and thanksgiving to celebrate the wonderful good news that during his brief period on this Earth, God, as a man incarnate, came down to establish his kingdom here and now.

Many theologians and Christians have really not understood what the the term Christ as King really means.  Many arguments and wars have been fought and blood shed over this. Pilate struggled with this question when he confronted Jesus on that Good Friday morning.  “You say you are a King, but where is your Kingdom” asked Pilate. Jesus’s answer was that his kingdom was not of this Earth and this has led many to believe that we as Christians are still waiting to go to some other place – but in his many parables which are to be found in Matthew’s gospel, he describes in the Kingdom of Heaven very much in earthly terms – often starting his parables with the world “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…..”

In this evening’s gospel reading we hear those famous words of Jesus’s Great Commission to the disciples – the sending out of them on a mission; a mission to “make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” But the greatest news for all of us is the final sentence of all in Matthew’s Gospel – “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”.

This is the end of the gospel – there is no ascension narrative but a clear unequivocal statement from Jesus that he is with us always – to the end of the age.

Our earlier reading set out David’s last words – David that great though flawed king who had started life off as a shepherd boy.  In those ancient biblical times a nation was judged by the effectiveness and strength of its leadership.  You will recall, earlier in the First Book of Samuel, how the people had clamoured for a king to rule over them.  A king was regarded as a shepherd of the people – someone to protect and provide for the people and so it was not mere co-incidence that Jesus often used stories of shepherds or illustrated his teachings by the use of shepherds to get across his message of the Kingdom of Heaven; neither is it a co-incidence that the first group of people to be told of the birth of god incarnate should be shepherds tending their flocks in the fields around Bethlehem. 

This morning’s readings included that famous passage from earlier in Matthew – the separation of the sheep and the goats and the questioning of when did either group see the Lord hungry, thirsty, homeless or in prison – the answer being that whatever either group did or did not tend to the needs of anyone they did or did not tend to the needs of God.  A powerful message.

When Jesus finally catches up with Peter on the shores of Lake Galilee that morning, when they breakfasted on fish together, he asks Peter not once but three times (signifying the absolution of the three denials on the morning of Jesus’s trial and execution in Jerusalem, if Peter will feed Jesus’s flock. 

A child once asked me recently that if Jesus did not die where is he now?  Of course, the ascension story, which as I have pointed out is absent from Matthew’s gospel, suggests that he is somewhere beyond our Earthly domain but those last few words of Matthew’s gospel which we have tell a totally different story – they tell us that Jesus is with us – his disciples – always – even to the end of the age.  Wow, powerful stuff. 

So where is Christ to be found?  Well I think the answer is clear – he is to be found amongst the poor, the hungry, the oppressed. He sends each and every one of us out to minister to them and in so doing he brings us closer to himself.

As Christians we are expected to have a living relationship with Jesus Christ. We are expected to obey everything he has commanded – just as he asks us to spread his word to those who have not heard, and to feed his sheep. 

Back in the biblical times the relationship between a Master and his Servant was very strong.  Whatever a Servant did by way of acting for and on behalf of Master was imputed to the Master.  If a servant, for example, was sent by the Master as a messenger to another Master, if that servant wasn’t treated with due respect and with utmost hospitality then the poor treatment he thus received would be an indication of a slight against his Master.  Therefore, we as servants of Christ the King should act in ways which impute the love and hospitality which Jesus himself would provide. 

So, if we find Jesus in these places where the oppressed and poor and hungry are what should we do?  Well. In fact we probably all know what we should do but find it so much harder to actually do it.  We often make excuses or simply, with the best of intentions, conclude that we cannot do anything because either we do not have the resources – in terms of energy, finance or personal or in time.  In fact, we only need to offer a small bit of our resources to make a huge difference. 

The story is told of a man walking along a beach one morning where an enormous storm the night before had washed up tens of thousands of starfish onto the shingle.  He started to pick some up, one by one and carefully return them to the water. Another man walking along observed this for a short while and intrigued approached the first man and enquired “Why on earth are you doing this? There are thousands and thousands of them and what you are doing will make no difference at all.  The first man stooped down, picked up one of the starfish and held it in the palm of his hand and showed it to the second man. Then, gently, he placed the starfish into the water.  “It made a difference to him” he replied.

Such a little thing can make a difference.  In my role as chaplain to the homeless at Alabare Place, a little bit of time spent chatting to one of the service users can make a lot of difference.  To make them feel that they are worth talking to and being prepared to listen to their troubles makes a huge difference to them.

We all suffer from lack of time. It is easy to concentrate on answering our emails instead of spending ten minutes chatting to somebody who, at that moment, needs our attention.  There are numerous examples in the bible of where Jesus, either tired or intent on completing another task does stop and spend time with the faithful – the bleeding woman, Zachias, the woman at the well and so on.  What time we might save by not being the body of Christ might cost us dearly when it comes to life in the eternity. 

This morning we were told that the sheep and not the goats, will be the righteous ones.  In this evening’s reading Jesus tells us how we can truly act out his Commission and live the gospel.  Not necessarily in grandiose ways but by simply seeking Jesus out amongst the poor and oppressed, being his arms and feet and eyes protecting and providing as the King is expected to do for his people or the shepherd for his sheep.  Like the Master and Servant relationship of old, what we do in the name of Jesus will be imputed to Him and this brings with it a great responsibility as evangelists of the bible.

Jesus’s words to Peter “feed my sheep” apply to us today.  Let us make time to carry out that Commission and not allow ourselves to be distracted or allow the fear of lack of time or resources make us wobble.

Let us pray in the words of a prayer by St. Theresa of Avila::-

Christ has no body now but ours.

No hands, no feet but ours.

Ours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world.

Ours are the feet with which he walks to do good.

Ours are the hands through which he blesses the world.

Lord Jesus, ours are the hands, ours are the feet, ours are the eyes for we are your body.

Amen

SERMON 49 - SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2014

Sermon at St. Lawrence’s Church, Stratford-sub-Castle, Salisbury Evensong - Sunday - Sunday 16 November 2014

Luke 9:1-6

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

The passage which I have just read from St. Luke’s Gospel is one which has intrigued me for many years. When I first heard it, many years ago, when I couldn’t really describe myself as a fully-fledged Christian,  it seemed to me an impossible task – did those disciples really step out in such faith taking with them absolutely nothing?

Here in this country, and especially amongst those generations which have never experienced the horrors of war and deprivation on our doorstep, we live in a society where material wealth and comfort abound and where we are bombarded, day after day, with advertisements telling us that we need even more material goods, we need to be healthier, slimmer, more beautiful and must have the latest version of whatever piece of technical equipment ctaches our attention.  Our daily bread is not sufficient – if the commercial pundits are to be believed the Lord’s Prayer should really read, “Not only this day give us our daily bread but also please give us the latest iPhone, plenty of money and eternal good looks even if it trespasses against others.”

It is so easy to lose sight of those things which really matter in our lives – honesty, integrity, respect and genuine love. So often we can substitute those things by surrounding ourselves with the falseness that material wealth can often bring.  We say things like – If only I had that particular car, or that particular house or even that particular wife/husband - life would be so perfect.  But it seldom is.

Jesus, in this passage is sending out the Twelve in utter faith.  They are to take absolutely nothing with them – no staff, no bag, no bread, no money no extra clothing.  They are to expect all their needs to be provided by others on the journey when they call in at villages.  Their  instructions are to drive out demons and cure diseases – in other words a healing ministry. In order to do this, Jesus has given them something far more important and powerful than those items they are discarding. He is giving them the power of the Holy Spirit. This power will not only enable them to carry out that healing ministry but, also, it will accompany them and provide them with all they need to sustain them on their ministerial journey.

The implication of his instructions is that this power will lead them to find homes which will be sympathetic to the Christian cause and they should stay in that household until it is time to move on and if nobody welcomes them then they should shake the dust from their feet – this being a sign of insult that the traveller has not been treated with proper courtesy when arriving at the town.

During the course of being a Christian I have met many people whom I would describe as Church-hoppers. People who have, for one reason or the other, been unable to find a church which has welcomed them or been “their type of church” and they have moved on. 

In this modern day of consumerism, referred to earlier, where choices abound  - sometimes far too many choices – it can be easy to pick up and drop a Christian community because it doesn’t quite fit our pre-conceived ideas of what the ideal church for us should be.  We can be tempted to hop on to another and another until we find what we feel is the right one.  But even then, in our throw-away society, we can be tempted to ditch it when things aren’t quite right to move on to try something else.

Yes, unfortunately, it is true that some churches can be quite unwelcoming – and I can, unfortunately recall a few experiences I have had where my attendance has felt like an incursion into a very select club with no real attempt to welcome me as a new member.  To that type of church or Christian community I would echo Christ’s words and say, “shake the dust from your feet and walk on”.  But this is very different from the church in which you might get bored or feel they are not singing the types of hymn you like or “those prayers were a little too long for my liking” or “I really don’t like sharing the peace”. If those churches are welcoming and they genuinely project the Christian message of faith, hope and love then you should stick with them, build up your faith within that community and bring some of your own ideas of how worship, prayer or teaching can be improved.

Here at St. Lawrence’s I feel a really genuine spirit of love and harmony which is evidenced in the way the congregation here has grown in recent years.  I am, thankfully, preaching to the converted – but I am sure that you, like me, know of people who would so readily move on from the churches they are currently attending or, for that matter, not attend any church at all because of pre-conceived ideas that it would not be for them.  Encourage them to come to this church.  This benefice is blessed with so many different styles of worship – extend the arm of Christian love to them – welcome them so that they will, like the disciples in the reading, stay with you until they move on for other unrelated reasons.

We as Christians should more easily know those things which God wants us to do and treasure above those things which the consumer world says we need to have or do. I was sent, recently, a note on Facebook about the five most common regrets expressed to a palliative nurse by her dying patients and none of these mention a wish that they had had more material wealth. They were:-

1.      A wish that they had had the courage to live a life true to themselves and not a life expected by others

2.      A wish that they hadn’t worked so hard and had spent more time with their family

3.      A wish that they had had more courage to express their true feelings

4.      A wish that they had stayed in touch with friends

5.      A wish that they had let themselves be happier

None of these five things require material wealth - but a loving and honest disposition.

A recent recipe for life expressed by a good friend of mine was “live well, laugh often and love much” and has been adopted by Wiltshire Freemasons.  I am sure that Jesus did just that and would have expressed his wish that his disciples did this too.

Jesus knew what was important.  What would sustain his disciples and also what would distract them from their mission.

Today, we should begin, if we have not already done so, to ask God to reveal to us his plans for us, what mission he has and not let ourselves get distracted by the trappings of our consumer world and leave us with regrets when we finally move on.

Let us pray:-

Almighty God,

We ask you to reveal to us your plans for our life,

And in so doing help us avoid being distracted by the trappings of this Earthly life and its consumerism

But help us concentrate on those spiritual things which will sustain us and aid us in doing Your mission

In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord  

Amen

SERMON 48 - SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2014

Sermon at Holy Trinity Church, East Grimstead - Remembrance Sunday - Sunday 9 November 2014[i]

Amos 5:18-24;  1 Thessalonians 4:13-end

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

Whenever I stand in silence for those two minutes on each Remembrance Sunday I not only remember those who have died in  those two World Wars and other conflicts since then, but I also reflect on the fact that I belong to a very privileged generation for whom those great and devastating wars are no more than pages in history books. Having been born only 8 years after the plutonium bomb was detonated over Nagasaki, I have lived in a period of relative peace and prosperity for which I regularly, through worship, give thanks to God.

When I was a child a regular event in our household was to watch the Royal British Legion’s Festival of Remembrance from the Royal Albert Hall on our small 9-inch black and white TV.  Back then in the 1960s a large number of veterans from World War I, together with veterans of my own parents’ age (or slightly older) from World War II, would march into the Arena.  They would include Chelsea Pensioners who had been at Gallipoli, Jutland, Ypres and so on – servicemen and women who had real and vivid memories of the horrors of those two global conflicts – who had seen, for themselves, comrades killed and companions maimed and many who had seen the legacy of evil and inhumane regimes in Europe and Asia.

As a child, the war held a great fascination for me and many of my schoolboy friends and invoked a great interest in modern history – especially as many of my friends’ parents and my own family members could remember vividly the Blitz and Battle of Britain – when the Second World War came to our shores. Today, whole generations have grown up having little or no understanding of those horrors although, of course, here in Wiltshire there are many families involved in the armed forces which, today, have personal experiences of the effects of warfare in far off lands; where our servicemen and women continue to fight for justice and peace. 

However, for many of our younger generation, there is no real concept of why those, whose names are engraved on our war memorials, gave up their lives.  Indeed, recently, during a discussion with a school friend of my 13-year old daughter, it became clear that she had no idea who Winston Churchill was, let alone the role he had played for this country in those dark days of the 1940s. 

Remembrance Sunday, then, is such an important occasion – not just for those veterans to recall what they went through or to remember companions who never survived the conflicts, but also so that those generations from my own onwards may clearly understand why so many lives were given, and are able to continue to give praise and thanks that so many stemmed the tide of evil which could have so easily engulfed the world.

Today, those conflicts in which our troops are engaged are largely in far flung parts of the world and the issues which have provoked them are complex.  Again many young people have no real understanding or concept as to why or where these conflicts are taking place – indeed many adults, including some politicians it could be argued, don’t, either.  Although these modern conflicts may be remote, the battles now often fought with technology, and the victims largely unknown to us, the horrors are still the same.

The true reality of those horrors perpetrated by the Nazis in World War 2 was brought home to me and to my 17-year old son, Thom, quite recently.  He and I spent a short break in Poland a couple of  summers ago and during our trip we arranged a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau – the infamous extermination camp about 50 miles from Krakow in the south of the country.  In this terrible place, 2.3 million people were sent to the gas chambers – many from Western European occupied countries including the Channel Islands  - and to where an estimated 700,000 British Jews and other “undesirables” would have been sent had the Germans ever successfully invaded and occupied the United Kingdom. 

Thom had read about the Holocaust in history books but I don’t think had any concept of the scale of the atrocities committed in that one single camp.

As we approached Birkenau in our minibus, the first thing to be seen was the infamous Hell’s Gate – the railway gatehouse into the camp. His face dropped and his complexion was ashen.  He turned to me and simply said “Dad it’s in colour, it’s real!”  Up to that point he had only seen it in black and white photographs in history books. In that split second, his perception of the horrors of that evil regime turned from the recorded pages of history to the reality of the suffering and horrors beyond that real gate.

And so, the importance of today cannot and should not ever be trivialised.  We owe it to forthcoming generations to keep alive the memory of those brave fallen and the causes for which they fell – to remember the evil which could have engulfed us.  In the words of the Kohima they gave their today so that we, all of us and the generations to follow, could have our tomorrows.

In his later letter to the Thessalonians, Paul reminds us that the return of our Saviour Jesus Christ will only come after the “lawless one” is revealed through rebellion.  In other words, as Christians we are expected to uphold the ethics which we have been taught by Jesus and should stand up against and expose all  who would deceive the truth as revealed by him.  Throughout history leaders have waged war and oppressed people either in the name of Christianity or by pretending to be Christians themselves.  In Nazi Germany, Hitler and his regime tried to appeal to Catholics and Lutherans alike that there was a score to settle against the Jews because the Jewish leadership had been responsible for Jesus’s crucifixion.

Last year I read a wonderful book of sermons, lectures and speeches by former Archbishop Desmond Tutu with the interesting title of “God is not a Christian”.  In it he reminds us that there is only one omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent God – creator of all thing and all people, everybody, black white, and yellow.  He appeals to Christians and God-fearing people everywhere, just as Paul does, to stand up against tyranny and oppression.  He puts it simply – If the Church is not going to stand up for the poor, the hungry, the oppressed, the discriminated, then who is?

This brings me back to the two-minute silence.  During those two minutes I try to recall all the battles of the two world wars, all the sites of oppression, all those areas of suffering, the blitz, the death camps, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Hamburg and so on and especially members of the church like Bonhoeffer and Maximilian Kolbe.   Two minutes is simply not long enough.

I praise and thank all those who have so courageously given their lives to oppose tyranny and evil.  Let us never forget them.

 

Amen

---

[i] This is a re=writing of Sermon 32 given on 10 November 2013 at St. John’s, West Grimstead

SERMON 47 - SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER 2014

Sermon at St. John’s Parish Church, West Grimstead, Wiltshire, – Sunday 12^th October 2014

Exodus 32:1-14; Phillipians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14

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

“DISTRACTION” AND “DISCERNMENT”

 

Like last Sunday, each of today’s readings blends in nicely with the others and a clear message, I think, comes from a study of these scriptures and one word springs to mind – the danger of being distracted from God’s call.  Let’s just remind ourselves what is being said in each.

In our first reading we hear of Moses’s delay in returning to the people of the exodus with the covenants and design for the tabernacle which God had given to him at the summit of Mount Sinai.  With impatience they turn to Moses’s brother, Aaron, and demand that the one true and living god, Yahweh or Jehovah should be replaced by a god of their own making using gold from the the same golden earrings with which they were expected to cover the ark of the covenant. This god was to be a golden calf (symbolic of the use of real calves which were sliced in two to seal ancient covenants in the past) and which they themselves would have some control. We see that act, in hindsight, as a blatant blasphemy – the breach of the second commandment which we looked at last week – the two timing of God, the worshipping of another false god or idol. In terms of black and white, as Tom Wright puts it, it is clearly wrong. But if we look at it in shades of grey, maybe we can better understand what is going on here. A dispute has, in fact, arisen as to whether the tribes of the exodus are God’s chosen people or those of Moses.  The people have been led out of slavery in Egypt, yes, but there they did have plenty to eat and drink and life was pretty predictable.  Since Moses has led them they have been wandering around not entirely sure where they are going or why.  They have come to the conclusion that Moses himself may be acting as a god and if he, as their leader, goes off to commune with the real living god there is a vacuum which must be filled.  They need a god to trust in to give them some reasoning as to why they are there in the first place. 

It actually seems as though God, Yahweh, himself is acknowledging this to be the case because in verse 7 he says to Moses ”Go down at once!  YOUR people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have acted perversely. In other words, they are not my people but yours and you need to bring them back on to the straight and narrow in order that they can once again be God’s chosen people. In fact, at first, God,  wants to destroy them – “my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them but will make Moses’s a great nation” – just as he had promised Abraham. Following this exchange, and Moses imploring Yahweh to accompany the people rather than simply sending angels, the relationship between Yahweh, Moses and the People is never quite the same and whilst the people return to being chosen of God yet they are tainted with the darkness – the unfaithfulness – shown by their blasphemy.

In our Gospel reading, we are again confronted by distractions.  Here the King has prepared a sumptuous wedding feast for his son but for some reason the guests are reluctant to attend.  They have other distractions to attend to – the distractions of everyday life it seems – those quite familiar to all of us here – farming, business meetings, etc.  Again, as in our first reading, people chosen to take part in the feast and like those chosen people in the Exodus, they rebelled and refused to come.

The King, a representation of God in the parable, is even more insulted when his slaves, an allegory on the prophets, are ignored and in fact killed by those same invitees.  They not only reject the offer of attendance but act violently towards the King’s messengers. Clearly he was an unpopular man in this parable.

The King destroys them, just as God would have destroyed those of the Exodus if Moses had not intervened and invited anyone they could find in the streets, both good and bad we are told.  Theologians have debated on this point and some think that the good and the bad gathered together represent Jews and Gentiles and that the destruction of the homes of those invitees who refused to attend represent the destruction of the Temple and the birth of the Christian church.  I think that is a nice idea but I believe that the message is far more reaching than that and is to remind us all that, like those people who made the golden calf, we disobey the call of God at our peril. Neither distractions nor a deliberate ignoring of the call will be expected by God.

The parable of the wedding feast gets even more complicated. The king notices that one of those who was gathered up from the streets, whom, presumably had never been expected to attend the wedding feast in the first place, is inappropriately dressed, and is not wearing a wedding robe.  This would have been the height of discourtesy – a little bit like turning up at a black tie do in jeans and a teeshirt. The man had been called to attend the wedding feast, after those previously invited had refused to come, and therefore it would have been expected that those fortuitous enough to be chosen a second time would have taken the time and extended the courtesy of robing themselves properly. The king orders the perpetrator to be bound and thrown out of the party and Jesus ends his parable with the words – “Many are called but few are chosen”.

What exactly is he trying to say here?  Some theologians think the lack of the wedding robe is a separate parable but I like to think that here Jesus is simply saying whatever situation we find ourselves in we must be prepared for God’s call and if we are not prepared then we will not be chosen.  I do feel sorry for the person in this story – he might have been homeless or could ill afford a robe but if he really wishes to attend the feast he should make the effort to acknowledge the invitation from the king.

This part of the parable reminds me of a story from my early days as a solicitor.  I was asked to attend the County Court in Bury, Lancashire and it was not until I arrived at court that morning, all the way from London, did I find that the hearing was to be in open court and that I should be suitably robed when I went before the judge.  I watched feeling rather helpless as another advocate, like myself, had been caught out by finding the this morning’s hearing were not in private chambers, as usual, but in open court.  He decided to risk it and began addressing the judge in just his business suit. “Mr. Smith” the judge glowered rather ponderously at our man over his half moon spectacles, “I am really sorry but I simply cannot hear you”.  “Oh”, shouted the young advocate, “Is that any better your Lordship” . “I am sorry I cannot hear you” repeated the judge.  For a third time the young advocate addressed the judge, rather frustratingly “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW” the advocate screamed at the top of his voice. “Mr. Smith”, then explained the judge “I cannot hear you because you are improperly dressed before me in an open court” (no robe or tabs). With this I hastily ran out the court, to the robing room, borrowed some tabs and the ushers gown and hoped the judge didn’t notice that I was not wearing my proper solicitors’ robes – which incidentally later got borrowed and never returned by my secretary for a vicars and Tarts Party!  The moral of that parable of my own was – when going to court, when you are called on make sure you have the correct dress.

Paul in our second reading writes something which I have always held very dear to my heart – he says, towards the end of our piece of scripture – “Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”. 

In each of these readings we see the effects of true discernment on the one hand – knowing when we are called and the value of that call to God - and of distraction on the other – allowing other things to move us away from what God is trying to do for us and the preparations we must make.

Paul, in writing to the Church in Philippi, was well aware of the distraction of that city – but clearly was pleased in which the way the church had, so far, kept itself faithful to the message of the gospel and this letter shows Paul’s great desire to go back there and extols the virtue of the church encouraging it to remain faithful to the gospel and not rely too heavily on the observance of the law.

The message is simple, I think.  We should at all times concentrate our lives on serving God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit – listening and being ready to for the call when it comes to minister to his people.  Not to be distracted, as we so often do by the everyday things of our Earthly life.  It’s a tall order I know.  We frequently make excuses not to do things – especially in relation to our personal faith – putting them off or telling ourselves we are too busy.  We sometimes find replacement gods like the golden calf – because we can’t wait for God, Yahweh, to call us or guide us.

Let’s not be like those people with Aaron, lets not be like those people of Philippi who were distracted and lets not be like those who either turned down the opportunity to to go the feast or when we were called weren’t ready.  By following the two commandments left to us by Jesus, and by following the rule set out by Paul – “Whatever is true, honourable, commendable etc. – think on these things”.

If we follow those rules we will be walking alongside Jesus and the true Christian way.

 Amen

 

MFB/47

SERMON 46 - SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER 2014

Sermon at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Alderbury, Wiltshire Wiltshire – Sunday 5^th October 2014

Exodus 20:1-4; 7-9; 12-20; Phillipians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46

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

There is an immense richness about each and every one of our readings this morning which I think can all be linked together with the one word “faith” – or in the words of Paul “justification by faith” – the belief that salvation and forgiveness can be obtained by a true belief in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and not simply a strict adherence to the law.

In the first of our readings we are reminded of the Torah, the book of law handed down to the Hebrews by Moses and upon which the Jewish faith is so heavily founded – laws or a code of conduct given by God directly to his people for the proper governance and guidance of his chosen people – laws which were frequently broken but which, by a strict adherence the Jews thought would ensure that Yahweh or Jehovah, the unspeakable God looked down favourably upon them.

 Let us just recall those Ten Commandments and here is a very easy way to remember them in the order they appear in the Exodus:

1.         The is only one God – no others

2.         Don’t two time God by falsely worshipping other idols

3.         There are three names for God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – don’t use them wrongly.

4.         Remember the Sabbath – the letter “4” looks a bit like a deckchair to rest in

5.         Honour your father and mother – How often do children take their parents for granted and think of them as simply a cash machine – No. 5 “lend us a fiver Dad”,

6.         Do not murder – the letter “6” resembles a hangman’s noose

7.         Do not commit adultery – think of the “seven year itch” we are sometime told about

8.         Do not steal – the letter eight looks like a pair of handcuffs if turned on its side

9.         Do not bear false witness – No 9 is not 10 – it is not the last of the commandments

10.       Do not covet etc. Think of thin “1” and fat “0”. Have and have not.

 

That was just a bit of fun but I bet you will remember the order of the Commandments after this.  

The Old Testament is full of examples of where those commandments were broken – time and time again and we only have to look at David as a really good (or should I say bad) example of somebody who broke nearly every one of them – especially murder, coveting, adultery and theft.  We read how, during the course of the history connected with the Jewish people an attempt to keep to the law still brought about trials and tribulations and eventually, God sent down his only son, Jesus, to redeem his people – and us today.

Our gospel reading is a clear allegory for this.  The vineyard in the story represented Israel and the vines its people.  The tenants those who had been put in charge of its spiritual welfare – the holy ones – the priests, levites, Pharisees and sadducees. The fence with the watch tower around the vineyard represents the law we have just discussed from the times of the Exodus.  The Torah which was meant to keep the vineyard secure.  The allegorical picture painted by Jesus in this parable would have been clear and certainly it would have, and did, upset the chief priests and Pharisees who wanted to arrest Jesus.  The owner of the vineyard is God and, the previous slaves represent the prophets such as Elijah and Elisha.  Finally sending his son, Jesus, who is killed by those same tenants – representations of those in authority. In this parable Jesus is not only pouring scorn on the way in which the tenants are behaving towards the vineyard and its owner, but also predicting his own crucifixion.  He is also predicting the demise of those who reject it and pointing out that the same stone which is dug up and cast aside will be the cornerstone of a new Christian church.

I love the reading from Paul.  It has spoken to me personally on many occasions and it reminds me of an early occurrence in my professional career as a lawyer.

Shortly after completing my degree course in law at Liverpool I joined a large commercial food manufacturing company in my home town of Grimsby in its legal department. I was full of myself and probably was quite obnoxious – a bit of a know it all straight from law school! I was, nevertheless, a humble legal clerk still to take my final professional examinations to qualify as a solicitor and was given the task of collecting small debts for my employer.  One case which I had was for a debt of about £5.95 from memory.  I spent half a day reading the file, reviewing the law of contract and its ingredients  – offer, acceptance, invitation to treat, consideration etc. etc. and in law decided my client company had a cast iron case.  I then set about issuing proceedings, drafting the summons and a lengthy particulars of claim – complete with law of contract legal authorities – cases learned in law school – and finally went to see my boss to request a cheque for the issue fee – say £4.50. It was then that he pointed out to me the commercial nonsense of what I had just done and by the time we worked out the number of hours I had spent on the case, the issue fee and finally – something I hadn’t even thought about – the likelihood of getting the defaulter to pay anything back at all from his history, I realised that I had, in fact wasted an enormous amount of my employer’s time and money.  I protested that the case was legally watertight and that the law was clear.  My boss agreed with me and then quietly advised me to bin the case.  The answer was simply that the company would no longer supply this defaulter with food products – fresh fish if I recall correctly.

The moral of this parable of my own – let’s call it the parable of the chip shop owner – was that whilst the law is there to be observed and followed there are times when that alone will not provide the answer and can, in fact, work against those who would seek to uphold it if we don’t consider God’s separate hand in everything.  We often try and take matters into our own hand or think that the law or more earthly solutions will give us the answer.  Paul in our second reading makes it clear that having followed the law religiously for many years he sees that as “rubbish” – “rubbish” when compared to following the example and teachings of Christ. The law will not, of its own bring us that which we need.

Recently I have been studying and reflecting on the whole concept of forgiveness and grace.  My spiritual adviser, a very wise individual indeed reminded me that there are three distinct types of forgiveness – personal forgiveness which is us, as individuals, forgiving those who have wronged us – whether they have asked for forgiveness or not – something which Archbishop Desmond Tutu calls “a gift which we give to ourselves” not to the perpetrator of those who have wronged us; secondly legal forgiveness – the righting of the wrong by legal means – the issue of proceedings against those who have wronged us but not to our own detriment and finally the greatest of all of these – “divine forgiveness” – which is totally out of our hands.

Both retribution and forgiveness of a divine nature we must always leave to God but personal forgiveness is for us and us alone.

Paul was himself, as we know, someone who zealously persecuted Christians in his early youthful “law clerk” days.  Like me, as the young lawyer, he saw the law as being the most important thing in obtaining righteousness.  It’s the right thing to do.  But how often do we ask ourselves – is it the thing which God thinks it is right for us to do?  The tenants in the vineyard wanted to protect their tenure and secure it by foul means – even resorting to murder. But in the end, as the parable points out they ended doing what God had planned and bringing about their own destruction.

How often do we – you and me – seek to put things “right” without bringing God, through Jesus, into the equation?  Howe often do we stand on the solemnity and sometimes inflexibility of the law without looking at things from a deeper and wider perspective? How often do we, like the tenants, build a fortress which, whilst seeking to protect what we have, also shuts out the Holy Spirit which should be allowed to freely enter us – especially in times of trial – when we need him most.

In a moment we shall sing the hymn – “all I once held dear” which echoes what Paul was writing about in his letter to the church in Phillippi.  As we sing it let us each and every one think how we can be more open to receiving the Holy Spirit and setting aside some of our earthly bound habits, values and prejudices.

Amen

 

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SERMON 45 - SUNDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2014

Sermon at Roman Catholic Chapel, Whaddon, Wiltshire – Sunday 28^th September 2014

Ezekiel 37: 15-28; 1 John 2: 22-29

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

First of all, it is good to be back with you preaching here at Whaddon. Although I have taken a couple of services in Whaddon recently I have not had the opportunity to preach.  Some may say that isn’t a bad thing!

 Looking at today’s readings, I found it hard to decide upon the theme for this sermon - however today is a very significant one for me – in that it was on the 28 September that my first born son was baptised in the Morning Chapel of Salisbury Cathedral way back in 1997 and exactly sixteen years later, on 28 September 2013, last year,  I took my oath of canonical obedience in that self-same chapel as part of my licensing that day as a Lay Minister in the Church of England.  Yesterday was my birthday and tomorrow is the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels.  So it is very much “Michael’s weekend”!

I thought therefore that it would be interesting to have a look at St. Michael and the role he has in the church.  He is the dedicated saint for the church in Bemerton Heath here in Salisbury and again the patron saint for Coventry Cathedral.  In fact I can think of dozens of instances where the name of St. Michael has been used – cathedrals, churches, schools, islands, mounts, and even underwear!  As I started my research it became evident that St. Michael was not a man, like most saints we hear of, but the name given in the bible to that Archangel who is regarded as the leader of the heavenly military forces protecting heaven from the assaults of Satan.

There are three clear references to Archangel Michael in the Bible – two in the Old Testament - the Book of Daniel (10:13 and 12) and one in the New Testament (Revelation12:7).  In the Book of Daniel Michael is described as the great prince, the angel who will rise up and help the Jews be restored to Jerusalem and later he is described as the one who will lead the heavenly host against Satan in the dispute over Moses body.  In the New Testament, Michael is seen as the leader who will slay the dragon in Chapter 12.7.  There are also passing references to the great prince and angel elsewhere in the bible – such references being attributed to the Michael.

In the dictionary of Saints complied by Philip Noble, St. Michael is first described as being the patron saint of grocers, mariners, policemen, paratroopers and sickness!  The name in Hebrew means “One who is like God” which was the attributed war cry of the good angels in battles fought in heaven against Satan and his followers.  Since the earliest times of the Apostles the Christian church has called upon Michael for aid at times of despair – when the church leaders have been beset by problems thought of as emanating from the evil influences of Satan – and it is interesting to find that Michael transcends all three Judeo religions – Jewish, Christian and Islam – and that he is observed as a leader of those forces from heaven designed to protect the true believer.

 I think it good and appropriate, at this particular service where we unite those of the Roman Catholic faith with those of the Anglican Catholic faith – and I use the term catholic purposefully for the Anglicans – that we are indeed all part of one large Christian family whose roots are to be found in the Old Testament as well as the New – roots which we share with the Jewish and Islamic faiths.

It seems at this time that there is increased bigotry and hatred amongst completing faiths – bigotry and hatred even between different branches of the same faith – Orthodox and Reformed Jews, Sunnis and Shias and in our own Christian faith – Orthodox and Catholics, Catholics and Protestants, Evangelical and Traditional, Conformists and non-Conformists and so on.  Why should this be?  We all have one clear and unfailing faith based on the two great commandments left to us by Jesus – To love God with all our might and to love each other as we would have those others love us.

In my time I have passed through many phases in my faith.  I started off as a traditional Book of Common Prayer Anglican – familiar with Mattins, Holy Communion and Evening Prayer – all from the little black book.  Then I went to university and was introduced to “born again” Evangelical Christianity which I have to confess I found a little uncomfortable – I didn’t fall over, didn’t speak in tongues and didn’t have a born again birthday. In fact I felt that I was a bit of a fraud calling myself a Christian and did query whether I actually had a faith at all.  Everybody else seemed to have it all so sorted. In fact it did lead to me entering the wilderness years as far as faith was concerned.  Later, I picked it up again when I discovered the new easy to understand and more informal Common Worship which we are using tonight.  I felt able to return to the fold with comfortable liturgy – which ultimately led me to train for ministry.  But one thing which did keep me on the straight and narrow was the thought that Christ’s teaching were, above all practical and simple and perhaps we often make too much of the ritual and rubric and forget the fundamental principles taught to us by Christ himself.  Today I simply describe myself as a Christian when asked about my faith – encompassing and embracing all types.

In the course of this last month I have attended a Roman Catholic baptism, a Roman Catholic Eucharist, a free church Evangelical service with communion, an informal Anglican family service, an Anglican Eucharist and yesterday an all singing all dancing licensing service in the Cathedral with all the pomp and ceremony that entailed.  I have loved each and every one of them because in each I have had an opportunity to praise and worship the one true living God.

In my time I have also attended a Mosque and a couple of synagogues.  I have enjoyed and respected the devotions of the members of those congregations.

I am not a pluralist but I do believe that we all worship the same God.  We may disagree about the divinity of Jesus, we may disagree about transubstantiation and we may certainly argue about the Trinity but, at the end of the day, each of the religions has a common grounding and we should tolerate the views of others even when we fervently disagree.

I started by saying that tomorrow is Michael’s day.  In our two readings Ezekiel, in the first, talks about the joining together of the northern and southern parts of Israel and in the second reading John reminds us about what is important for our faith.  I echo both of these thought by saying that as united Christians we can better fight off, like Michael, those attacks which plague us by the forces of evil which have none of our faith. Those who worship gods quite different to the true and living God, Yahweh or Allah.  It is good that we as Catholics and Anglicans can worship here together tonight.  Whaddon and Alderbury have much to be proud in having these services which I know go further - into house groups and other community activities.

Let the spirit of St. Michael and All the Angels persevere to fight off those influences which would seek to destroy our ecumenical Christian faith.

Amen

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SERMON 44 - SUNDAY 27 JULY 2014

Sermon at St. Birinus’s Parish Church, Morgans Vale, Redlynch, Wiltshire – Sunday 27^th July 2014

Romans 8:26-39;  Matthew 13:31-33; 44-52

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

It is good to be with you this morning here at Morgan’s Vale; my first time here leading and preaching.  I must confess to not knowing much about either this church or Saint Birinus before so I thought that I had better do a little research before coming here this morning.  Earlier this week I drove over here to find out where the church was and was greatly rewarded in also finding that you have a lovely pub which does nice meals – and Ringwood best bitter too - so that was my first revelation.  Secondly, I looked up St. Birinus on the Internet to find that he was a Frank (that is not a reference to your Rector mind!), who, having been commissioned in 634 by Pope Honorius I to come to Britain,  became the first Bishop of Dorchester (on Thames) and responsible for converting many Anglo-Saxons in Wessex to the Christian faith. He also became involved in converting the “heathen” of Northumbria and Mercia.  I was delighted to find out that he landed in this country at Hamwic, which is now better known as the St. Mary’s area of Southampton where the football ground is located - so I must acknowledge him to be truly a Saint!

Both of today’s readings emphasise the importance of living our Faith and the need to lead prayerful lives dedicated to following the teachings of Jesus about how we should conduct ourselves in the difficult and dangerous world around us.  Jesus’s various parables – the Mustard Tree, the Leaven Bread, the multiple and peculiar fish, the pearls, the hidden treasure and so on are all told to emphasise the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is actually here if we try to tune into it.  Yet how often do we do that?  Jesus says that this is how it will be at the end of the age.  Yet we are indeed at the end of that age – which was started when God sent his only son, Jesus, down to earth.  That was the first step in establishing the kingdom of heaven here on earth – not converting people so they go to heaven but preaching the gospel, the good news, so that we can see heaven here on earth now.  We as Jesus’s disciples are expected to continue that work. At each service we pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Not, I believe,  at some future time but here and now, today in this place. 

But what a task we have.  Not a day goes by in which we do not read or see in the media of “persecution, famine, nakedness and sword” as Paul writes it in his letter to the Romans – nothing, regrettably, has changed since his time.  Paul wasn’t in jail when he wrote this letter, although he had been there not too long before, and we know would be again. It must have looked to the outsider as though the rulers, the powers and everything else in creation were having their own way and that the purpose of God, entrusted to this little man Paul, had been stopped in its tracks. How often do we, as Christians, followers of Christ feel like that?  We are frustrated that as the world continues to spin on its axis in its orbit around the Sun - as it has done for millennia - wars , famine, greed, selfishness, disrespect, rudeness, ruthlessness, tyranny and so on continue to flourish on its surface.  In fact, with modern day advertising and so on we can continue to grasp for those other gods which we are told will make our life complete.  If only we had the next type of phone, that particular car, that particular house and dare I say it, that particular partner, everything would be so much better than it is at present.  Contentment, as Paul remarks in Philippians, does not require a vast amount of material wealth – contentment is based on a good relationship with God even if we have little else.

Today, unlike in Paul’s time, the advances made in communication technology means that we can so easily be seduced by those things which can separate us from God - so Paul’s words of advice ring true above all this today as much as they did when he wrote them in the first century.   We may not ourselves, here in this beautiful part of England suffer the slings and arrows of the types of persecution Paul speaks about but we must still guard against the subtler things which can seduce us away from God’s love.

Paul’s message, however must give us all the greatest of hope.  It is an optimistic message which he gives to the Church in Rome where they could see, at first hand, the terrible persecution of the Christians being carried out nearly every day.

He acknowledges that sometimes we can find it hard to pray when the pressures of life and, in the case of Paul’s examples, persecution and tyranny are all around us.  This is often brought about by our own human weaknesses.  I have to confess that there have been many occasions in the past where I have been involved in a prayer group and we have included ten minutes of silent prayer.  After the initial splurge of supplications – asking prayers - it slows down and I simply run out of things to pray for. I might even start praying for stupid things like a good ending to Coronation Street this week!  Sometimes I find that I have not taken any time out to pray at all.   Paul in this passage is giving comfort to people like me when we can’t think of things.  He says that if we have truly accepted Jesus into our lives he will intercede on our behalf – our belief will fill us with the Holy Spirit which will do our work for us – as he says “God, who searches the heart knows what is in the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints (that’s us, each and every one of us) according to God’s will. 

In other words, Paul’s theology of Justification by Faith (the washing away of sins by the simple but significant act of belief that Jesus Christ was sent down to earth and died for our sins) overrides everything and it was on the basis of this theology that the Reformation Movement was formed by Martin Luther in the 1500s.  Salvation by simply accepting and loving Jesus Christ as your Saviour and not repeated acts designed to bring about salvation. God knows what is truly in our hearts – as the psalmist puts it in Psalm 139 – “Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely … such knowledge is wonderful to me”.

Paul goes on to ask – “If we God’s “Elect”, the “Saints” in the non-beatification sense of the word – the absolute believers in the risen Christ – can be justified by our faith then God, who gave his only Son will not withhold anything from us and we will be atoned for our sins. Not only that, if God does not condemn us then who else has the right to do so?  Again echoed by the writer of Hebrews – “the Lord is My Helper I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” (Heb. 13:6)

Paul describes us as conquerors – and that no power on earth can destroy us – yet repeatedly we can feel destroyed.   - Maybe that job didn’t materialise, that relationship broke down, that person we prayed for didn’t recover their health.  That doesn’t mean that we are poor Christians, that doesn’t mean that we as Christians should expect that nothing should ever go wrong for us – but it does mean that when those things do occur, if we stand steady in our Faith, God will nor desert us and will be with us through those difficult times.  He is always with us and he knows our needs and sufferings.

Paul ends this passage with a reminder that nothing can separate us from the love of God – not death, not life, not rulers, not angels, not powers, not anything in creation provided our love of God is founded in the belief of Jesus as Saviour.

I started this short sermon by a brief description of St. Birinus – a saint I knew very little about.  We have many saints recognised by the Catholic Church and memorialised by the Church of England – we hear of relics and burial places of those beatified saints and we talk about the “communion of saints” in the Creed we shall shortly be saying – meaning those who have gone before us.  But before I end this homily, do look at the person next to you – to the left and to the right – take a good hard look – smile too if you want to! - in truly accepting the Lord Jesus as Saviour and acting as a disciple in carrying out his teachings in the way you act, think and pray - you are looking at the face of a living saint.

 

 

Amen

 

 

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