Sermon at Holy Family RC Chapel,
Whaddon - Evening Prayer – Sunday 26th March 2017
Psalm
31:1-16 Micah 7; James 5
Let the words of my mouth, and the
meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Amen
We now find ourselves well into Lent and I wonder how you are all doing with your Ash Wednesday resolutions?
Following
the events of Wednesday 22nd March in Westminster my son, who is
currently studying at the University of Hull, telephoned me to say that he had
been watching the events in Westminster unfold on TV (apparently like a lot of
modern students he doesn’t appear to have any lectures or seminars to attend on
some days of the week!) and that he had concluded that “religion” was the cause
of most troubles in the world.
Unfortunately I didn’t have the time or inclination just at that moment
– he had phoned me at a particularly difficult time – to enter into a long
protracted theological discussion with him but in essence he had reached the
view that much of the terrorism and hatred in the world was caused by people
with differing and opposing theologies arguing that, as my son put it “my non-existent supreme being is better
than your non-existent one” – an echo of the philosophy of Nietzsche. The
conversation left me feeling slightly depressed but also very reflective on
what he had said. I promised him that we
would have a much longer and deeper discussion on his philosophical ideas. After all, he does have a point. My belief in
God, as a Christian, is based on some ideas which have and will continue to be
challenged by people who would call themselves “enlightened”. Indeed, what is Faith if it is not based on
trust and feelings which can be so difficult to articulate in terms of
scientific proof. Unless we are prepared
to examine carefully our faith and be prepared to have it tested, it can easily
stagnate and not grow. Doubting Thomas
wouldn’t believe in the risen Christ until he had seen Jesus and felt his
wounds. When he was allowed to do so Jesus told him “You have believed because you have seen and felt but how much more
blessed will be those who have not seen yet have come to believe” [John
20:29].
I have
recently just finished reading an excellent book by Paul Bradbury who is the
Church of England’s pioneer minister down in Poole who was tasked with setting
up and expanding a Christian community amongst the housing estates and secular
community of that town. He was expected
to “hit the ground running” but as time passed on he realised that much more
can be achieved by listening to God through contemplative prayer and leading a
contemplative life rather than rushing around relying on our own egos and other
people’s ideas and very often achieving little in return. He used the resources he had around him and
let everything go to God. Paul Bradbury
uses the Book of Jonah as a good example of where we as humans can think we
know better than God. Jonah was given a
commission – he ran away from it only to be caught up with by God using a big
fish. When eventually Jonah arrived at
Ninevah and that city repented of its evil ways, Jonah sulked because it was
not destroyed as he hoped God would do.
Paul says Jonah’s story is like many of us. We have our own agenda and we expect that God
will follow and support us whereas it’s the other way around.
In our Psalm
and both of our readings the theme is very similar. A lamentation for the way of the world and
the turning away from God. You have been
given a copy of Psalm 31 this evening – do take it away and read it from time
to time during this week and particularly the prayer in Verse 15 – “My times are in your hands; deliver me from
my enemies and from those who pursue me.” [NIV]. How often do we feel that we want to pray
these very words? How often do we feel
in despair and so helpless? Just like my
son was feeling when he heard of so much evil happening in a place –
Westminster – he knows quite well. The
psalmist does, however, have hope and looks to God to save him from the evil
doers.
In our first
reading this evening, from the minor prophet Micah, we see a similar situation.
Micah says “The faithful have disappeared
from the land and there is no one left who is upright. They all lie in wait for blood and they will
hunt each other with nets” [Micah 7:2].
But in James
5 we are encouraged to be patient in our suffering – “As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have
seen what God has finally brought about.
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy”. [verse 10 – NIV].
James, in
the final few paragraphs of his letter tells us what we should do – pray and
praise. Pray when we are in trouble,
pray when we are sick, praise God for all the blessings he has bestowed on us.
Jesus
throughout the gospels often uses examples of agriculture in his parables. The mustard seed, the sower, and so
forth. Bradbury, in describing his
ministry in Poole tells the story of how he acquired an allotment. There was a great waiting list for such a
piece of land but he was given a plot quite quickly. He soon discovered why – it was a piece
nobody previously had wanted because it was a reclaimed part of an old car
park. The soil was inches thick and full
of rubble, stones and broken up tarmac.
It took him and his flock nearly 3 years for it to be turned into
something remotely fertile. It was an immense struggle but the day came to
plant the vegetable seeds. Paul describes how there was then nothing further
that could be done but to wait and let God’s wonderful work of nature take
over. A little weeding here and a little
watering there but the creative process of growing was left entirely in the
hands of God. James in verse 7 says
exactly this “Be patient, then brothers
until the Lord’s coming. See how the
farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for
the autumn and spring rains”
The message
I think is one we should take on board when the things seem tough, when the
world seems against us, when, like that piece of land nothing seems to yield
fruit because the ground seems devoid of nourishment. By our faith we can keep going but it
requires us to also be patient and wait upon the Lord. There is a lovely worship song which was
played at Spring Harvest at the time I felt called to ministry – “Strength will rise as we wait upon the
Lord” with the lines “He will lift us
up on wings like eagles”.
I hope that
my son will come round to understanding that a faith, a belief in God’s righteousness
and love, in our fundamental Christian philosophy through Christ’s teachings
the world can be a much better place and that we can bring down the Kingdom of
Heaven on earth and that God will lift us up on wings like eagles.
Let us pray
Almighty God,
We ask that you give us patience as
we wait to hear from you as to what you wants for us.
Sometimes we feel tired and
frustrated in this difficult and broken world as we battle with our struggles
and see so much hatred, violence and greed around us.
We pray that your Kingdom will come
and that your will be done here on earth as in Heaven and that we all love one
another as the beautiful creatures of the one true God.
We ask this all in the name of your
Son and our Saviour, Jesus Christ
Amen
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