SERMON 193 - SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2023 - REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

Sermon delivered at St. John’s Parish Church, West Grimstead Remembrance Day Service – Sunday 12^th November 2023

Micah 4:1-5

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

Each year I have found it increasingly difficult to say anything particularly new at this Remembrance Day Service especially if the scriptural passages given for the day are difficult or seemingly at odds with the occasion – a solemn occasion in which we remember all those who have given their lives to protect their country, their philosophies, their religious beliefs and in the west our forms of democracy.  It is an appalling fact that it is believed that out of the last 3,400 years of recorded history the world may have been at peace for only about 268 years of them.   A staggering fact and, as far as we can know, many little known and unrecorded tribes may very well have been warring during those 268 years too.

For many, growing up in my generation we lived through comparable decades of peace here in the western world.  The horrors of two World Wars seemed to be behind us and our armed forces were largely involved in peace-keeping exercises in such places as Cyprus, West Germany, and latterly Northern Ireland.  That is not to say that our valiant forces were not subject to attacks and intimidation during their tours (Northern Ireland being a particularly horrible example) but we were not involved in a full-scale war until 1982 when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands and we saw, for the first time for many years, our Navy, Army and Air Force engaged in a major conflict.  I think it took us all by surprise and shock as the numbers of casualties rose and the glamour of war, which I and my friends at school played out in the playground, became the reality of death and mourning for families on both sides.  I remember in particular working at that time with a mother whose son was serving onboard HMS Coventry when it was hit by Argentinian bombs in May 1982. Fortunately, we heard that he was one of the fortunate survivors.  I am sure there are many here today who can recount tales of the horrors of war either first hand or through the experiences of others.

Since then we have seen more severe and horrific conflicts arise closer to home – the Balkans and most recently Ukraine and Israel. With the advent of the technology of the modern media the horrors of those conflicts, in many cases akin to some of the atrocities of the Second World War, come into our homes on our TV and other screens.  There can be no escaping the horrors of war and thereby also being aware of the heroism of those who continue to serve in peace-keeping exercises and fight to restore freedom and democracy. 

Many years ago, I bought and wore a poppy principally for those who died and suffered in the First and Second World Wars.  As we shortly enter the seventy-ninth year since the ending of that latter conflict not only are we today remembering those but now also many more who have given their lives in other conflicts to restore peace and love amongst the nations of the world.

I have chosen a passage of scripture this morning from the Book of Micah – a passage which also appears verbatim in Isaiah 2:1-5.  I have chosen this passage for two special reasons – it comes from two of the Books of Prophesy, at a time when the Jewish people had been dispossessed of their land and were in Exile in Babylon and secondly, being an Old Testament Book its message is of equal importance to Jew, Christian and Muslim with the Old Testament being common to all three Faiths.

In this passage Micah, is speaking of the evil rulers pre-Exile – around 700 BC, but we believe this passage was written around 500 BC. He is prophesying of a future when all those in conflict with one another will join forces and be one at peace with one another.  He prophesies that a time will come when there will be no need for armaments, that “swords will be beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not rise up against nation nor will they learn war anymore” – in other words humans will use tools and implements for the greater good and not to destroy each other and live at peace and harmony.  That will happen, he says, at the beginning of the passage, this will occur in days yet to come. It reminds me so much of the John Lennon song “Imagine”.

Jesus in Matthew 24, however, also tells us that until this period of stability preceding the “end times” there will continue to be wars and rumours of wars and much disruption and destruction.  For this reason we must continue to be vigilant and safeguard our society and culture against those who would seek to destroy it.  We have much to thank and praise our armed forces for in protecting us and preserving freedom and peace in the UK.  The Jews, incidentally, in every synagogue service give prayers for the defence forces of Israel. I do not wish to comment on the rights or wrongs of the current situation in the Holy Land; suffice it to say if ever there was a time for the need of prayer and reflection in the context of warfare this is a time like no other to do so. 

 Time and time again I am reminded of two very famous photographs taken from outer space.  The first one was taken on Christmas Eve 1968 by astronaut William Anders onboard Apollo 8.  It shows the Earth rising above the lunar surface. Earth is seen, for the first time, from another world and appears as a small fragile ball orbiting through space. It is a sobering thought that every member of Humankind, with the exception of the three astronauts onboard Apollo 8, are living on that one small ball. It is also interesting to observe that from 240,000 miles away there are no political distinctions or country boundaries visible.  The whole of the Earth is the home of everything we know.

The second image was taken from Voyager 1, the space probe that flew past our most distant planets and then one beyond the Solar System. As it was about to leave the Solar System NASA instructed it to turn its cameras behind and capture an image of the Sun from over 6 billion miles distance.  As it did so, quite by chance a solar ray struck a tiny pinprick of blue.  It was Earth – a tiny almost invisible blue speck.

Both of these images remind us of our fragility and uniqueness.  It gives us feelings of both humility and grandeur, that in the creation of the Universe we are so fortunate to inhabit this tiny speck of cosmic matter – not too hot, not too cold – in fact astronomers call our planet as inhabiting the “Goldilocks Zone” of our Solar System. No other world has been discovered in a similar position or supportive of life. We are so fortunate yet we seem to have this constant desire to destroy.

A famous astronomer called William Thomson Hay once said “If we were all astronomers there would be no wars”.  I use that quote on my own Facebook page. Incidentally, William Thomson Hay was better known as the comedic film actor Will Hay of “Oh Mr. Porter” fame.

We would do well to remember and marvel at the vastness of the Universe and our unique place in it.  Micah, Isaiah and indeed Will Hay all make a wonderful point.  Let us avoid war whenever possible. Let us constantly follow the paths of peace and reconciliation but at the same time, never forgetting those who gave their lives in that cause as we continue to wear our poppies with pride.

Let us pray :

Hear us, O Lord, as we make our appeal in their memory;

Bless, O Lord our God, those who have fought and valiantly died that we might enjoy liberty and freedom.

May their sacrifice not be in vain. May your blessing, O Lord, be upon them. 

In Jesus’s name

 

Amen                                                                                                    MFB/10112023

SERMON 192 - SUNDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2023 - 4TH SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT

Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Whiteparish - Sunday 5 November 2023

Micah 3:5-end; 1 Thessaolonians 2:9-13; Matthew 24:1-14

Let us pray : Father God, we thank you that you sent your only Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem our sins and to be a light to the World.  At this time of great disturbance in the Middle East and Eastern Europe we call upon you to shine that light in those dark places and guide all those in positions of power and influence to seek your ways of peace. Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, Amen.

It is the strangest of “Godincidences” that, because of Bible Sunday and All Souls Festival falling at this time, the readings for this morning’s service at which I was asked to preach, were changed to become the very ones upon which I have been reflecting over the past four weeks; since the terrible events in Israel on 7^th October in fact. Much social media posting has been in the form of speculation about whether we are now truly entering the “end times” with professed theologians discussing interpretations of the Book of Revelation and the rise of power of many non-democratic nations.  I have no intention of speculating further on this topic this morning but I think it is necessary to think carefully about where our theology and philosophy lie.  We can so easily be led astray by false prophets and those who would seek to use biblical passages for their own purposes and not the purposes for which they were written.  It most walks of life it is advisable to keep things simple – both for understanding and success – and our Faith is no exception.

I will be looking more closely at our gospel reading later but first of all a short reflection on our first two readings, both of which warn us against falling into the trap of following dubious prophets.

Micah is very clear in his message, heard in our first reading and, back in the days of the Old Testament, warns against the hypocrisy of those who cry peace but at the same time declare war against those who do not follow them and their beliefs and philosophies. Sounds familiar? Micah declares that a time will come when such people as these will be uncovered for what they are.  Micah is, of course, one of the minor prophets who was prophesying at the time of the Great Exile – a time for reflection by the Jewish people as to why they had been disposed of their land and taken into captivity in Babylon.

In his first letter to the Christians in Thessalonica Paul appeals to his readers to keep their faith simple. They have been converted to Christianity through hearing the Word of Christ preached and are reminded that they went through much “labour and toil” in so doing.  Paul asks them simply to keep the Faith, to continue to follow the teachings of Christ by the manner in which they live and worship.  Paul is asking them to continue to live and proclaim the gospel to others and constantly to give thanks and praise to God.

In the course of my own reflections upon this morning’s gospel reading, which as mentioned earlier I was considering even before I knew that I might be preaching on it, Paul’s words as written principally in his letter to the Colossians - as opposed to the Thessalonians – emphasise the need to lead a Christian life, not simply by paying lip service to ritual and the legalities of religion, but showing the light of Christ by the way in which we treat those nearest and dearest to us as well as to all other members of the human race – whether believers or not.  Do please read Colossians in which Paul gives us a clear insight as to how we, as followers of Christ, are expected to lead a Godly Christian life.

I was interested to read and listen to what many modern Evangelical preachers had to say on the topic and have been appalled at some of the distortions of scripture which have come out – especially from some of those preachers who are found in the American “mega churches”.  Theology has been made complicated and twisted with much eisegesis – that is reading into scripture what are your own thoughts and views - as opposed to exegesis which is taking out of scripture what is meant whether it accords with your own views or not. It is a dangerous practice and one to be avoided.  We should always ask ourselves four questions when reading scripture – When was it written? Who wrote it?  To whom was it written? Why was it written?  It is always most important to ensure that we read any scripture in the context of its construction.

Applying that to our rather alarming gospel reading we can discern the answer to those four questions which hopefully assist us in understanding the passage better within its context and seeing it in light of our present situation.

Matthew 24

To whom and when was it written?  It is acknowledged that Matthew’s gospel was written some forty years or so after Christ’s death and resurrection, principally for Christian followers still living amongst the Jewish community in modern day Israel with original sources attributed to the gospel of Mark. It was written in Greek and therefore we need to be aware that it would have been a translation of the original Aramaic. It is largely, like the other Synoptic Gospels, a biography of the life of Christ. There is no reason, therefore to believe that it is not primarily an accurate account of what Jesus said and did.

Who wrote it? There is some controversary over its authorship but the commonly held belief is that it was written by Matthew, one of Jesus’s disciples – the tax collector Levi.  Whatever, we can be fairly sure that the author lived amongst those early 1^st Century Christians who found themselves persecuted by both the Romans and Jewish elders for their beliefs – which accorded with neither Jewish nor Roman doctrine.

Finally, why was it written? If we accept the authenticity of the scriptural passage, and we must remember that we are told by Paul that all scripture is God-inspired, then we must accept what Jesus is trying to communicate to those he is addressing.

We read that Jesus was coming out of the Temple when he told those closest to him, his disciples, to look at the building itself prophesying that not a stone of it would remain in the future – that the Temple would be destroyed.  Here, Jesus is not only talking about the actual building – which indeed would be desecrated and destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman General Titus – but that he himself would suffer and be destroyed – prophesying his own crucifixion.

Of course, the destruction of the edifice of the Temple was of immense concern to the disciples who had been brought up with the concept of the building being the centre of their Jeiwsh Faith and implored Jesus to tell them when this would occur.

We then have Jesus’s description of all those things which will have to occur before then with the recently much quoted list of disasters –

Wars, rumours of wars, nations rising up against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms, famines, earthquakes and so on.

It is quite easy for those who want to interpret the ending being now, in the 21^st Century, imminent, by looking at these things but, if we think about it, these things have been occurring over the last two thousand years and in some ways even worse than they are now.

What concerns me more is the rise of so many false prophets which Jesus predicts as an indicator of the end times.  He says, because of the increase of lawlessness the love of many will grow cold.

I look around at society today and I genuinely mourn the loss of the respect and values which we, of an older generation, have been brought up with.  My son, who is a teacher, informs me that respect for him and his colleague teachers by their students has almost disappeared.  The respect we once held for our politicians has now gone – not without justification when we see the untruths and misinformation we have been fed; and, again, I look upon many of the evangelical preachers, especially in the States, who use biblical eisegesis in support of less than biblical teaching for their own ends.

But, Jesus, as ever, has the last word.  He tells us in this gospel passage that “anyone who endures to the end will be saved”. This, he tells his disciples, is the good news. If we can discern false prophets from the true words of the gospel we can overcome the evil and falseness all around us.

Each and every day I pray for discernment. Discernment of hearing what God is truly telling me as opposed to what others, or I myself are saying or thinking; discernment in understanding the true nature of biblical teaching and recognising those who preach the true gospel and rejecting those false prophets who teach us their distorted version.

Jesus tells us and his disciples that the true ending will be a good ending.  Don’t you always like a good ending to a book or film?  I still cry every time I watch the last few minutes of “The Railway Children”!  Jesus says “The good news of the [coming of] the Kingdom of Heaven will eventually be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations” – that will be the true and beautiful ending. Alleluia.

What a wonderful and beautiful thought but it does require us to keep the Faith and to keep the gospel message simple. “To endure” as Jesus says. avoiding falseness and deceit, keeping to those great Christian values set out in the New Testament.

Once more, Let us pray : Father God.  we ask that you give us the gift of discernment to recognise false prophets and false teachings from the true and simple message of your Son, Jesus Christ, as set out in the gospels. We pray that we may go forth with confidence and strength in proclaiming the good news through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, Amen. 

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SERMON 191 - SUNDAY 8 OCTOBER 2023 - TRINITY 18

Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Winterslow and All Saints’ Church Farley - Sunday 8 October 2023

Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46

Father God, we bless and praise you and your Son, Jesus Christ, remembering that He is the vine and we just his branches, and you are the owner of the vineyard from which all good things come. We pray that we shall bear the fruits of your creation and protection in all we do, say and think. Amen

I love stories, parables and illustrations about wine and vineyards. I like drinking it too – especially a nice Argentinian Malbec or French Claret! When you think about it, the bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, is full of stories connected with wine.  The first act Noah did after leaving the Ark was to plant a vineyard and subsequently got himself drunk and disgraced himself; we then have Pharaoh’s cup-bearer (his wine servant) in prison with Joseph whose later testimony helped release Joseph; the Book of Proverbs has much to say about the beverage including the dangers of over-indulging;  Isaiah writes a song about a vineyard which we heard read out this morning and which I’ll come back to shortly; then there is the miracle of water being turned into wine at the wedding at Canaan – Jesus’s first miracle; Jesus appears to have enjoyed a good party and drank wine with sinners and tax collectors; there are also Jesus’s two examples of the vineyard representing modern day Israel which we will look at more closely shortly and, of course, the serving of wine and its symbolism at the Last Supper.  In fact there are so many references to wine and drinking in the bible I am amazed the Temperance Society was ever taken seriously!

Of course, wine was very important back in those days in the Middle-East because it was a way of drinking purified water in a hot country and it would usually accompany most meals. It was also important to the Jews because they had been commanded in the Books of Numbers (15:5) and Nehemiah (13:12) to make drink offerings and tithes of wine to Yahweh (Jehovah).

Jesus having been brought up in this Jewish culture would have seen many vineyards in his time and observed the process of viniculture and wine making. This is why he used the illustration of the vine and its branches to describe himself and those who followed him. However, before looking more closely at the gospel reading let’s look back at what is being said in our first reading today from Isaiah remembering that Isaiah was one of those major prophets who foretold the coming of Jesus.

Isaiah is writing at the time of the Exile of the Jews in Babylon, those seventy years when the cream of Judah’s society had been sent to Babylon to serve their oppressors. The Temple built by King Solomon had been destroyed by these invaders and the rump of the population had been left in Judah to maintain the fields in forced labour. Isaiah looks back and laments at what had happened, likening Judah to a fertile vineyard planted by God who expected the people to bear fruit and obey his commands.  What he sees is a nation in ruins brought about by their own failure to flourish because they didn’t act as God had wished.  He describes the people as wild sour grapes, not the cultivated sweet grapes which he had planted and expected to grow. They were expected to behave with justice and righteousness but instead they were divided and warred amongst themselves – the reference here to bloodshed and not righteousness. Because of this, God had torn it down, dug it up and destroyed it – a reference to the Babylonian destruction of the Temple and removal of the people into Exile. It’s God’s judgment on the people – a warning also for the future never again to allow this to happen.

Paul takes up the theme of obedience to God but in the letter he writes to the Philippians he looks back upon his own upbringing and behaviour as an ardent law abiding Jew and reminds us that following the coming of Christ, things have changed. No longer are we just expected to follow the law to be righteous but it is also necessary to follow the ways and teachings of Jesus;  that we must now see everything that had gone on before through the lens of the Cross. Paul acknowledges that he has persecuted the followers of Jesus for not following the old law precisely but now realises that whatever he thought he had gained by strict adherence to the laws was worth nothing to the gain he has made by the knowledge of Jesus as his Saviour and the Saviour of the world (both Jew and Gentile).

Jesus, in the parable which he tells in our gospel reading, reflects back on Isaiah’s vineyard, but the story differs in quite a material way. Again, the vineyard represents Judah or by now, under Roman rule, called Judaea.  This time the landowner who planted the vineyard left it to be tended by tenants on his behalf but when his agents came to collect the produce the tenants killed the agents.  This happened twice and then the landowner sent his own son thinking that there was no way in which the tenants would harm him – but they treated him in the same way as the agents and killed him too.

Jesus then asks the chief priests and elders, to whom he is directing this story, what they think the landowner will do next? To which they reply that they believe the landowner would throw out the present tenants and put new ones in their place.  Jesus then explains that he is talking about them – that they will be thrown out and replaced.  He is actually foretelling the coming of the Roman general Titus and the destruction of the Second Temple but not until after his own death, the death of the son of the landowner – Jesus the Son of God.

As often with Jesus, he ends his explanation with a bit of a riddle. He talks about the stone which the builder rejects becoming the cornerstone.  As I am sure many of you will know, the cornerstone is always laid in the northeast corner of a building and is the one which is first laid. The rest of the dimensions of the building follow on. Here Jesus is alluding to himself as being the stone which they, the chief priests and elders, will reject. He will then become the cornerstone of a new covenant – a new religious order – Christianity – a following of him, Jesus Christ, and his teachings. Tom Wright, in his book “Twelve Months of Sundays” explains that it is also a play on words as the Hebrew word for “son” is “ben” and the Hebrew word for “stone” is “eben” hence “corner stone” or “corner son”.

So, what relevance do these passages have for us today other than their historical significance? 

It reminds us of three fundamental things:

First, God, as the owner and planter of the vineyard, is the creator and owner of all things and that we owe our very existence to Him, and that having created us in his own image, we are expected to grow and lead righteous lives.  If we do that, and respect and acknowledge that all humankind is created in his image, the world will be like the Kingdom of Heaven– something which we should all aspire to.

Secondly, that it is not sufficient just to live by the law – not just be good and obey laws and be diligent in our religious rituals – we also need to know and accept that Jesus, the vineyard owner’s son, is our true saviour and, as Paul put it, everything else is of little or no value above the knowledge and acceptance of Jesus as the Son of God and Saviour of the World, and

Thirdly and finally, if we accept those two things, God will protect us and guide us – he will maintain those vineyard walls and hedges and watchtowers looking out for us and keeping us safe so that we may grow and flourish and become those rich fine cultivated grapes from which the finest of all wines is made. 

As we started so let us finish with that same prayer :

Father God, we bless and praise you and your Son, Jesus Christ, remembering that He is the vine and we just his branches, and you are the owner of the vineyard from which all good things come. We pray that we shall bear the fruits of your creation and protection in all we do, say and think.

Amen

 

MFB/191/04102023

 

SERMON 190 - SUNDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2023 - TRINITY 14

Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Farley - Sunday 10 September 2023

Ezekiel 33:7-11; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20

Let us begin with a prayer,

Father God, we bless and praise you that we can meet here this morning without fear of persecution knowing that you are always present; especially when we are assembled together as your Church. We thank you that you gave us Your Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us to redeem our sins and that we are forever forgiven. We thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit and, in these current times of political and economic uncertainty and unrest, may that same Holy Spirit be there with us as an inspiration to us all in making and keeping the presence of God deep within us even when the going gets tough.  Amen

In that prayer which I have just said, we bring together too fundamental principles of our Christian Faith – the knowledge that we are all members of Christ’s family irrespective of our own individual cultural and economic backgrounds and upbringings and that our sins can and will always be forgiven just as we should forgive others who sin against us.

Our last two readings from the New Testament this morning are both very rich in describing and illustrating Christian doctrine and how we should behave. In our first reading from Ezekiel we are shown how that Christian doctrine is overlaid on what went before the coming of Christ – a strict observance of Jewish laws and customs – the simple idea that just to live a Godly life was sufficient to be saved.   Jesus, when questioned by the Pharisees and also when he spoke in his local synagogue in Galilee made it clear that he had not come to break the law but to fulfil it – meaning that through Him and Him alone, we could be forgiven for our sins and not suffer God’s wrath.  Through Him we could view God as a loving God and not a vengeful one.  Indeed, Ezekiel alludes to this when he says “As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn their ways and live”.

This therefore illustrates that the God of the Old Testament was always a loving God.  In conversations which I have with people, when they learn that I am a church minister, I am often asked how I reconcile the vengeful God of the Old Testament with the teachings of Christ in the New Testament – indeed, on one occasion somebody who was a regular church-goer even told me that they never read or listen to scripture from the Old Testament and restrict their Faith solely to the scripture from the New. That, I believe, is to miss the point entirely. To understand fully the role of Jesus in coming to a broken and ungodly world two thousand years ago, we need to understand and appreciate the history of the Jewish people and appreciate the role and teachings of the prophets such as Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezekiel – during the times of the Babylonian Exile when the Jewish people had been cut off from worshipping God, Yahweh or Jehovah to give Him their name.

In the Old Testament God did not derive any pleasure in his wrathful nature and did all in his power through the prophets and leaders to avoid “the death of the wicked” as Ezekiel puts it.  There are so many examples of this – the pleading of Abraham concerning the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God’s saving of Nineveh from destruction much to the chagrin of Jonah who had done so much to avoid sending the message of salvation to its people and then had hoped for its destruction. 

The Hebrew word used for repenting is metanoia or “turning away” – the word used by John the Baptist when he travelled through the wilderness proclaiming the coming to the Messiah. He was imploring the Jewish people to turn away from their evil ways and live Godly lives by accepting the salvation of Jesus who was to come – and the best way is to show love to one another.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul takes up the theme of a loving God by saying in very simple terms that if you want to fulfil the law, in other words lead a righteous life as understood by the teachings and law laid down by Moses in the Old Testament, then you can do no better than “love one another”.  As Paul puts it, “love does no wrong to a neighbour and therefore you are fulfilling the law”.

We have to see this in the context, again, of a nation which fully believed that to reach salvation, to be right with God, one simply had to obey the letter of the written law. Jesus, by contrast, said that this was not so.  Even today I have met people who firmly believe that by simple lip service and ritual they are saved but the truth is that being a Christian is not simply attending church once a week but is living your life in accordance with the teachings and example of Jesus.

Although not part of our readings today, you will recall that Jesus was asked a trick question by the Pharisees to ascertain his credentials and hopefully trip him up.  He was asked which of the Ten Commandments was the most important.  His answer was that there are two of equal and complimentary importance – to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself. Because God loves you then by loving your neighbour as God loves you there is really no need for the other eight commandments because if you obey those first two then you are unlikely to commit any of the other eight sins.

For me, when I first heard this it was an absolute revelation.  I had learned the Ten Commandments off by heart at school and now they could be condensed into just two. However, as we all know, it is not always easy to love our neighbour especially when that person is of a different cultural, social or economic background. We so easily gravitate towards people like ourselves and can, likewise, grow our own prejudices.  We know this and that is why we often need to ask for forgiveness – that is why forgiveness continues to be at the root of Christian doctrine and why forgiveness is such an important topic within the Lord’s Prayer – the prayer which Jesus said we should pray and which features in every Anglican service.

Early I said that it is not just paying lip service to religious ritual that ensures the promise of eternal life, nor is it just being “a good person”. It is metanoia, turning back to God through Jesus who is the one and only way (as He himself put it) to salvation or eternal life. That has to be a true and genuine belief that Jesus was the Son of God and that he died on the Cross for our sins – not that he was just another great prophet.

In our Gospel reading Jesus points out to his disciples this truth when he explains how to deal with errant followers.  It is not to castigate them publicly but to talk to them quietly away from others – to give them a chance to put right whatever it is that they have done wrong or giving them an opportunity to apologise. Only after that has been done and they have continued not to listen to advice should they be denied salvation – in the words of Jesus “whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven”.

In our gospel passage Jesus ends by stating the importance of the church as a group of two or more like minded faithful individuals and emphasises the power of prayer.  You will recall that Jesus always sent his disciples out in twos – indeed, only yesterday morning I was visited by two Jehovah’s Witnesses and saw a whole group of them in my road evangelising their beliefs. Here in this morning’s passage Jesus is reminding us of the strength in numbers by pointing out that if two or three gather together in his name then he will always be amongst us.  I find that so comforting.

In recent weeks I have been reading in a particular broadsheet and in the Church Times  about the imminent demise of the Anglican Church through the dismemberment of the parish system.  Debbie McIsaac can speak more knowledgably than I on this subject, but what I can tell you is that even though our numbers may be fewer than in the past Jesus will not abandon us but will always be among us.  He promised that and this is a promise which we must always remember and heed.

In conclusion, following Christ is not about following all rules and rituals religiously but remembering and if we follow just the first two commandments – love God and love our neighbour – and believing in the presence of Jesus with us now then we can look forward to that eternal life which he promised to us remembering that a good starting point is to forgive those who have sinned against us – not for their sake but for our own.

 

Amen

 

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SERMON 189 - SUNDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2023 - TRINITY 13

Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Whiteparish - Sunday 3 September 2023

Jeremiah 15:15-21; Romans 12:9-end; Matthew 16:21-end

Let us begin with a prayer,

Father God, we bless and praise you that we can meet here this morning without fear of persecution knowing that you are always present; especially when we are assembled together as your Church. We thank you that you gave us Your Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us to redeem our sins and that we are forever forgiven. We thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit and, in these current times of political and economic uncertainty and unrest, may that same Holy Spirit be there with us as an inspiration to us all in making and keeping the presence of God deep within us even when the going gets tough.  Amen

[Seventy-eight/Eighty-four years] ago, on this date and on this day, a Sunday, the world was thrust into a conflagration that would last for almost six years and would leave millions (many innocent non-belligerents) dead – for today, [78/84] years ago, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Hitler’s Germany. The reason for the declaration was that Germany, which had already re-occupied the Ruhr and the Rhineland, and had occupied Austria and Czechoslovakia had now turned its attention on Poland which it had invaded two day’s previously. Hitler’s aim was to take the free city of Danzig (now Gdansk) and incorporate Poland into the Third Reich. Poland would cease to exist.

As we know, the occupation of Poland and the subjugation of its inhabitants, especially its Jewish population, was something which is painful to describe because of the horrific nature of the cruelty inflicted, yet, having visited that country three times, I cannot ever get over the kindness and hospitality of a people who have, not only during the Second World War, but throughout a long and involved and violent history, been so badly treated.

Looking back on all the sermons which I have written since being licensed as a minister of the Church of England in 2013, I find that this is how I started a sermon I delivered in this very church, and to many of you present here today, six years ago – back in 2017. I went on to discuss the difficulties of how many of those who suffered under the occupation of Europe by the Nazis had in ever coming to terms with what they saw as God’s abandonment of them and how forgiveness seemed so impossible. I also mentioned a Holocaust survivor called Etty Hillesum and of how she implored Jewish people to protect and keep God in their hearts above saving and hiding their earthly possessions.  In her view they needed to protect and hide God from their persecutors in order to sustain them.  The words of Jeremiah in our first reading must have often been in her mind – utter what is precious and not what is worthless.

When I gave that sermon the United Kingdom was still a part of the European Community (albeit we had voted to leave) and Ukraine was still an unviolated sovereign state (with the exception of the Crimea).  I thought it would be interesting, therefore, just to reflect upon how things have changed – if at all – since I delivered that sermon and see if we have learned anything at all. 

I mentioned previously that Poland is a very devout Christian country – 96% of its habitants, I remarked, are registered as Roman Catholics. At the heart of our Christian Faith, I reminded us, is the important doctrine and concept of forgiveness, something which, for many, it can be extremely hard to practice when applied to someone who has really hurt us.

When I spoke six years ago, I spoke in the past tense about the cruelty of the Nazis in their persecution and extermination of those in the countries they occupied – especially Poland, citing the witness born by Etty Hillesum. Little did any of us think that six years later we would see a resumption of persecution and extermination of another Eastern European people, the Ukrainians, at the hands of another large authoritarian power – this time Russia led by another autocrat. After decades of relative peace we now find Europe once more in a state of high alert and economic challenge as a result of the territorial demands of another superpower.

What has been heartening has been the response which many ordinary people have made in supporting and housing the refugees from that war-torn country. I personally know many people who have taken in refugees from that conflict and welcomed them into our village communities within our own Deanery.

It is easy to get despondent when things work against us.  It is often easy to ask the question – “Where is God in all this?”  “Why does he allow such things to happen?” “Why can’t he put an end to this now?” …and the biggest question of all – Does God actually exist at all?”

These are not new questions and it is quite alright for us to pose them.  They have been posed for thousands of years.  Indeed, we hear these questions posed in the Psalms, in today’s reading from Jeremiah and also in our Gospel Reading when Peter cannot understand Jesus’s revelation that he must suffer and die.  As far as Peter is concerned God can and will step in to prevent this from happening without understanding that it must happen.

A couple of weeks ago we had the reading from Genesis when Joseph met his brothers again. Instead of punishing them and rejecting them for having sold him into slavery he rather teases them at first and then ultimately forgives them because he realises that if it was not for their bad deeds towards him – human and worldly actions - he would not have been placed in the position he was in Egypt and able to do God’s work.  Similarly, Jesus tells his disciples that he cannot save the world from sin without having to go through the trial and punishment already destined for him through the Cross.  Peter sees it from a human, worldly perspective whereas Jesus explains that it is a divine design.

I recently had an interesting theological discussion with a good friend whose family seems to be going through a tough time at the moment. The friend has a strong faith and whilst he may not understand why he and his family appear to be “under siege” as he put it, he acknowledges that his faith constantly reminds him to understand that God has a plan and that the plan will not ultimately hurt us because God loves us. Evil has already been defeated and will never, therefore, ultimately prevail. We must keep telling ourselves that – “God loves us”; “Jesus loves us” but we must accept him and not reject him.  We must believe that however much we or others may sin, however much we may go astray, like sheep to quote the psalm, he will bring us back into the fold if only we have the courage to believe and keep the faith.

I believe that is true on a global scale too.  Whatever bad things happen, whatever bad people seem to get into positions of power, God will eventually overcome those dark powers for us. Paul talks about our fight against dark institutions and powers. Jesus defeated death on the cross therefore death and evil will never prevail although we will go through dark times of evil and despair.  Being a Christian does not make us immune from worldly wrongdoings but we do have the weapons to fight it – above all the knowledge of God’s love for his people and our love for him and all that is righteous.

Paul puts the attitude we are expected to have have into a clear words in his letter to the Church in Rome as read out today in our second reading and which I think helpful for us to hear again :

“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Whenever I read these words I find this whole concept so lovely but yet so difficult. Which of us has not had enemies at some time? People who have hurt us or wanted to hurt us? People who have put themselves and their own desires first and foremost above the feelings and situations of others. Sometimes deliberately, sometimes unthinkingly – and which of us can honestly say that we have not, at some time hurt others ourselves? Perhaps a thoughtless or tactless word or action – a feeling of revenge or retribution against the other person who has hurt us?  Gandhi once said to a Christian “It says somewhere in your Bible ‘…an eye for an eye’ but what use is that – when does it stop? – when the whole world is blind?” 

Every Sunday, and hopefully on other days of the week, we recite the Lord’s Prayer.  We are probably all so familiar with it that we rattle it off automatically; but again, at the heart of it is that part which asks for forgiveness – just as we are forgiven.  Forgiveness is something we can readily receive but which we must readily give to others – whether they ask for it or not.

When we are hurt we suffer distress. We can have a whole range of emotions - disbelief, anger, sadness, a desire for vengeance but as Gandhi said what does that achieve but to make the whole world blind – Paul puts it better – “vengeance is mine says the Lord”.  Our role has to be to give room for God’s support and love – through Christ, through the Cross and through the Holy Spirit.

In a moment of silent prayer, is there somebody you want to forgive, somebody who has caused you pain and suffering; if so mentally recite the name of that person and leave that name at the foot of the Cross and let God, through Jesus, take on the burden.

Amen

 

MFB/103/31082017/189/18902092023

SERMON 188 - SUNDAY 20 AUGUST 2023 - TRINITY 11

SERMON AT ST. MARY’S PARISH CHURCH, ALDERBURY - SUNDAY 20^th AUGUST 2023 – ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

GENESIS 45:1-15; MATTHEW 15:10-28

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

Shalom! ……. The traditional Jewish greeting, but what does “Shalom” actually mean? …

Yes, “Peace” but what sort of peace.  Certainly, at this moment in time, the world could do with a lot more peace when we consider all the conflicts which there are ongoing today – Niger, Yemen, Somalia, Myanmar and of course Ukraine.  I am sure it will not surprise you to know that since the end of the Second World War in 1945, not a single week has gone past without there being a conflict or war somewhere on our planet.

On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus set out the eight Beatitudes – listing those classes of people who would receive especial blessings from God.  One of those (in Matthew 5:9) is “Blessed are the Peacemakers; for they will be called the Children of God”; so, it seems logical that if anyone can bring about peace in these current conflicts they must be called the Children of God.

Well, as with much of what Jesus taught it isn’t that simple.  The Hebrew word for “peace” as I said right at the beginning is “shalom” but that doesn’t mean simply a peace which can be defined as an absence of war or conflict. The word more accurately can be translated as a wish for contentment, fulfilment, a tranquil state of the soul, to be at peace with ourselves and at peace with God.

In this modern world we are constantly being told that we are not good enough, that we need to be better, to be like so and so, the film star or influencer, that we need to be slimmer, fitter, more beautiful or handsome or that we need more or better possessions – bigger houses, smarter cars, the latest phone or technical device and, of course, there are always people and companies prepared to provide these to us – at a price!  All of these things put a great deal of pressure on us and we live in a constant whirl of feeling inadequate – not at peace with our ourselves and with little time to find or understand what it is that is God’s purpose for us. So let us consider how we can find that peace and what it is to be a peacemaker.

Our first reading is a good example of illustrating Joseph’s example of demonstrating true “shalom”.  I am sure that the story is well familiar to you all but just to remind ourselves, Joseph, the favourite of his father Jacob, was taken out into the desert by his envious brothers with a view to killing him and returning to their father to say he had been the victim of an accident. They, in fact, sold him to slave-traders and he was sold into slavery in Egypt. Through a number of different circumstances – well catalogued in the Book of Genesis, Joseph was first of all promoted within the house of an important official, framed by a vengeful wife when he did not succumb to her charms, imprisoned, released and through his ability to interpret dreams given status as a minister in Pharaoh’s government. He predicted, through his dreams, that Egypt would enjoy seven years of bountiful harvest and then suffer seven years of famine.  He advised Pharaoh that all the excess grain produced in the seven years of bounty should be stored in massive warehouses for use during the seven years of famine.  A wonderfully simple but effective strategy and one which many people, in today’s unpredictable world, would do well to remember when considering how to manage their finances.

Our story, from this morning’s reading, picks up where the famine years are now well on – already two years of famine have passed with another five years to go. Egypt’s prudence has become known to the starving nations surrounding it – including Canaan from where Joseph hails. Joseph’s father has sent his elder sons from there to Egypt to see if they can get some grain to feed the family and our reading describes the meeting between them and their brother whom they think is far away or maybe even dead.

Just as we will see in our second reading, when Jesus meets another Canaanite, Joseph teases his brothers. He has let them beg for grain without revealing who he is. Now in this chapter he tells them that he is, in fact, the brother whom they would have killed.  Instead of punishing them for what they did to him, he actually thanks them for he sees their actions, which resulted in him becoming influential in Egypt, as being the will of God. He could quite easily have turned them away or even arrested them but, in fact, as we later learn he encourages them to return with the rest of the family and settle in Egypt.  But that is another story.

What we see here is a real example of peacemaking. A reconciliation between Jospeh and his errant brothers. Indeed, making peace is really of a two-fold nature.  First of all, it is necessary for us to be at peace with ourselves and thereby with God.  God loves us and has a plan for each and every one of us. Often we try to make our own plans and often fail dismally. We then blame others or look to others and envy their preferment or lifestyle – back to the modern world of comparisons and feelings of inadequacy mentioned earlier. Oscar Wilde one quipped “Don’t try and be like somebody else because ‘somebody else’ is already taken”.  I love that piece of witticism and often use it myself when I find myself envying others – which I must confess can be quite often! We have to accept who we are and whom God made us to be – that is being at peace with ourselves and thereby at peace with God.  Each and every one of us has a uniqueness, yes we are each and every one of us unique, God-created and, when we accept that, we indeed can call ourselves “Children of God”.

Secondly, to be a peacemaker we have to hold no grudges or spite or hatred of others – accepting them for what they too are – God-created unique individuals. That’s not always easy, especially with those who have hurt us in the past, but Christianity, the teachings of Christ, is very much based on this whole concept of forgiveness – something which Joseph did in forgiving his brothers and realising that, although their own personal intent was malicious, in the end they did him a great favour in enabling him do God’s work towards the Egyptians and also surrounding nations. 

I must admit that our Gospel reading, at first glance, appears to be somewhat contradictory to what I have said.  The Gospel reading is in two halves – the first part finds the holy men of Israel, the Pharisees and Elders berating Jesus for letting his disciples break the tradition of washing hands before eating.  A good hygienic tradition born out of the fact that in the hot Middle East bacteria could spread so easily. However, he uses the point about unclean food going into the mouth as being less harmful than what can come out of it. Jesus explains to the disciples that what he means is that bad food will pass through the body and defile the sewer whereas what evil things are spoken come from the heart and do more damage to another. I remember my mother often saying to me “If you can’t say anything good then it is better not to say anything at all”. How many wars or conflicts, especially in the home, have been caused by ill-spoken words.  What Jesus is saying is that we cannot expect to be peacemakers, and therefore children of God, if we do not honour and respect others.

The second part of the Gospel Reading is more testing I think.  Here, a Canaanite women, a foreigner, brazenly comes up to Jesus shouting for him to have mercy upon her and implores Jesus to help drive out the demons which she says have taken hold of her daughter. Jesus ignores her.  On first reading, up to this point, it seems so unlike the Jesus we have seen before, the same Jesus who healed that other woman with the haemorrhaging. The disciples want him to send the woman away and Jesus, at first, appears to be in sympathy with them when he says “I was sent only for the lost sheep of the House of Israel”.  When I first read this passage I could not reconcile it with the notion that Jesus had come for everybody not just the Jews. However, on further readings I have come to the conclusion that he was teasing the woman as a test of her faith. Would she just walk away, allow herself to be fobbed off, or would she be persistent? She was persistent and knelt and then Jesus says something profound “Is it not fair to take the children’s food and feed it to the dogs?” In other words, is it fair for him to deny ministry to the Jews by ministering to her, a foreigner?  She answers brilliantly – but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table – in other words, every living creature, high or low, is entitled to something.

Jesus, now having tested her faith by seeing her persistence does as she asks and thereby reinforces the notion that he has, indeed, come for all - high and low, Jew and Gentile.  Another example of where an incident has shown God’s mercy to all.  I think it also shows Jesus (and therefore God) to have a sense of humour. I think he was playing with her – talking tongue in cheek to see how she would react.

The essence of all these stories, therefore, is that as true Christians, living in Christ’s shadow, we are expected to show grace, mercy and peace to all we meet – whether they are of our own “type” or, as is often the case in our now very much cultural society, quite different in upbringing and culture. Common decency seems to be going out of fashion as discussed earlier.  We are often too much involved in making our own way regardless of how it affects others around the world. We can become selfish and self-centred. 

Celtic Spirituality, as we have been experiencing this morning, is all about seeing God everywhere in our world and in everybody.  It is based on honouring all God’s Creation and remembering that by Him and in Him and with Him we are the people we are and are meant to be.  If we remember that, and honour other people and our planet in general, we are well on our way to being peacemakers and thereby true Children of God.

Amen                                                                                                  MFB/12082023/188

SERMON 187 - SUNDAY 11 JUNE 2023 - FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

SERMON AT ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH WINTERSLOW & ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH FARLEY – SUNDAY 11^th JUNE 2023 – FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

HOSEA 5:15-6.6;  ROMANS 4:13-25; MATTHEW 9:9-13, 18-26

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

I have always been intrigued by the fact that the American writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens, perhaps better known as Mark Twain, was born in 1835 when Halley’s Comet was in the sky and died in 1910 when again, Halley’s Comet had returned to our skies. Indeed, Mark Twain had always told his friends that he came to Earth with the comet and would leave with it.  His prediction became very true.  However, earlier than 1910, a newspaper contacted him to enquire whether rumours that he was seriously ill and dying were true. Twain penned a humourist response to the effect that “I can assure you that rumours of my impending death have been seriously exaggerated” and this quote has now become commonly used in circumstances where suggestions have been made that something is coming towards its end or dying.

Those of you who attended the Clarendon Team Service at Alderbury on Sunday 30^th April will recall that Debbie McIsaac preached at that service.  As she was leaving the pulpit at the end of her sermon she stopped and uttered one last sentence to us to the effect that “we can be assured that with Jesus at the Head of our Church, it will cannot die”. In other words, all the negative comments which have been made in recent times about the demise of the church and Christianity, cannot be correct if we truly believe that its head is Jesus because God will not let it die.

Afterwards, I complimented Debbie on having spoken out in this way and told her that above everything else which she had preached, that final sentence was the one which resonated most with me and which I would take away and remember.  I felt it such an encouraging line.  She told me that she had actually finished preaching and was simply going back to her seat when the words of this last sentence came to her spiritually and she felt compelled to say them. Truly, God was talking to her and we can all take refreshed encouragement from them.

In his weekly letter, Simon Chambers described the theme of this week’s readings as ensuring that our lives are aligned to God's purposes. In our reading from Hosea the prophet appeals to the people who have strayed from God's ways saying 'Come let us return to the LORD' for 'his appearing is as sure as the dawn'. In St Paul's letter to the Romans we hear how Abraham was faithful, and he believed that he would become 'the father of many nations', and so he 'grew strong in his faith'. And in our Gospel reading we hear Jesus calling Matthew saying 'Follow me', and also hear how Jesus heals a woman, and a daughter is brought from death. 'Take heart, your faith has made you well'. Jesus says to her. Through all of these readings we are invited and encouraged to 'strengthen our faith, build up our hope, and grow in love'. I would just like to dwell a little longer though on our Gospel Reading – another favourite of mine.

This reading was one of my devotional readings earlier in the week and the one thing which stuck out was that Jesus was a party-goer.  He enjoyed the company of others especially over food and drink and we read in Acts that the early Christians also enjoyed meeting in each other’s house and “breaking bread and drinking wine together. However, in Jesus’s case he didn’t restrict his party’s to what I might call “Holy Huddles” but, as we read, he sat at dinner with Matthew and other tax collectors and sinners.  I think we are all familiar with this narrative but it is worth reflecting upon it from time to time as we can, sometimes, find ourselves spending most of our time with fellow Christians and not with those who we might consider outsiders. We naturally tend to drift towards people who are like ourselves and are repelled by those who are different.  That is where Jesus is so different and why the Pharisees were troubled and confused by his conduct.  If Jesus was indeed such a holy man why on Earth would he want to associate with those who were so despised in Jewish society – tax-collectors who cheated the people for their own profit and general “sinners” – those who disobeyed the Jewish laws and ordinances.

Jesus’s answer is wonderfully simple – “those who well have no need of a doctor, only those who are sick”.  Such a beautifully simple explanation as to why Christ came down to Earth. Although simple he furthers explains it by saying “I desire mercy, not sacrifice for I have come to call not the righteous but sinners”.

There is a story, which I think I have told before but which I think it is important to tell again of a suburban parish church where there was a new rector installed.  Shortly afterwards he put up a billboard outside of the church reading “All Sinners Welcome”.  The PCC met and asked him to remove it which he refused to do.  The PCC had been approached by members of the congregation to complain that the notice would attract “undesirables” and upset their nice cosy church community.  Eventually the new rector was indeed replaced and found a position in an urban church environment.  What a missed opportunity.  From the words of this morning’s gospel he had exactly the right idea.  God wants us, as Christians, to go out into those darker places and spread the light of Jesus and the Holy Spirit to brighten up our world.

The second part of our gospel reading emphasises the need for Faith.  Again the stories are well known and very familiar but there are two points which I think it worth underlining.  The first is that if we have Faith and have the courage to ask God, through prayer for something, he will hear, however busy he might be, and answer.  You might not always get the answer you want but he will answer and give you the answer you need at that time.  The second is that a delay is not fatal either and that Jesus always has time for us.  In our reading Jesus was on a mission of mercy to heal a sick girl.  It is clear that her illness is such that the healing is time critical. Nevertheless, he stops and has a discussion with the sick woman who has had the faith and courage to touch his cloak believing that she will be healed – and she is.  Jesus then continues on his journey to find the sick girl has died.  He raises her from the dead those performing two miracles.

There are some who think that miracles no longer happen.  I am sure they do and I am certain that most of us can look back at times in our own lives or the lives of others where there have been “god-incidences” for want of a better word.  Sometimes they occur after a particularly difficult time in our lives.

So the messages I think we need to take away from this morning’s scripture is that it is important that we don’t keep to our holy huddles, that we take encouragement to strengthen our faith, we embrace change and those who may not yet share our faith, that we live not apart within our own culture but mix our faith and traditions into our surrounding culture – live within our modern culture whilst retaining our faith and integrity where it differs.  Jesus did not become a sinner by mixing with sinners, he remained “apart but within” and by example brought people to salvation. In spreading the Good News of Christ’s redemption it is better to integrate within our local communities than set ourselves apart and so shine with the light and love of the Holy Spirit which we all carry within us.

 

Amen                                                                                                  MFB/10062023/187