SERMON 155 - SUNDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2021

Sermon on First Sunday of Lent  -  Clarendon Team Online Service  –  Sunday 21st February 2021

Genesis 9:8-17

It’s good to be with you again and reflecting on today’s passage of scripture. I have chosen this particular passage from Genesis as it seems to me to be a most appropriate piece for us, not only as we are beginning Lent but also because the rainbow is such a very strong symbol during this long period of the pandemic.

Let’s just remind ourselves of the context in which we find this scripture. The Great Flood is over, Noah, his family and all the animals with him in the Ark have been saved after forty days and forty nights at sea.  God’s wrath upon the sinful people of the Earth had been so great that he had decided to “wipe the slate clean”.  Destroy all he had created except for the one righteous man and his family and those other creatures collected together by them. You all know the story so well that I need not repeat it here.

Whenever I hear the story of Noah and the Flood I can’t help myself but think about the film “Evan Almighty”, starring Steve Carell, in which our hero, Congressman Evan Baxter, hears the voice of God calling him to build a big boat in his back garden – mirroring the story from Genesis. All his neighbours and fellow politicians think he is nuts but he saves the day when a new and poorly developed dam bursts flooding his town.  He becomes the hero but only after much derision and loss of face and office.  Imagine the jibes and ridicule which the original Noah must have suffered - not only from his friends and neighbours but also his family – yet he doggedly pursued what he felt God had called him to do. That is something for us all to reflect upon; is God calling us to do something different and unusual – something which others might think odd but which is, in fact, part of God’s plan for us and for others?

Turning back to our particular piece of scripture today, I think this is one of the most descriptive and beautiful passages in the whole bible.  I know that whenever I look upon a rainbow in the sky, even though I do understand its scientific explanation and properties – the splitting of white light through the prism of raindrops into its constituent spectroscopic colours – it still amazes me and fills me with a sense of awe and wonder and, because it is often seen after rain or a storm, it invokes a sense of peace and well-being.

That is indeed the message which God is giving in that beautiful vision – of peace and well-being and of course, beauty; and especially after the storms and upheaval of the Great Flood which had gone on before.  It was the sign which God gave to seal the Covenant, the promise that never again would he deal with the sins of the people with such a cataclysmic event as that which they had just been through.  Indeed, as we know, that Covenant was followed through later by the New Covenant or Testament so that instead of punishing the people in such a way he would send his only son, Jesus Christ, to take the punishment for us. Not only that, instead of calling individuals such as Noah for specific individual tasks, building the Ark for example, anyone could now be called and blessed with the Holy Spirit. They only had to ask through prayer and devotion.

I said at the beginning that this piece of scripture was particularly appropriate for this time and this place.  We are not suffering from a global flood, although the heavy rainfall we have had over the last week may make us think that another one is on the way, but we are suffering from a global pandemic. Some might think that it is God’s way of punishing us but I don’t believe that for a second. If anything, the pandemic is a strong warning to us by putting us in our own “Arks” of isolation, giving us an opportunity to reflect upon what we have been doing to our planet and to each another.  One only has to watch some of the TV documentaries with people like David Attenborough and Simon Reeve to know that we are in danger of doing untold irreversible damage to our fragile planet without needing God’s wrath.

As well as the rainbow, another image which is indelibly printed on my mind’s eye is that wonderful  photo taken by the astronaut, Bill Anders, during the Apollo 8 mission around the Moon. It is called “Earthrise” and shows a gibbous-phased beautiful blue and white planet rising over the horizon of a desolate lunar landscape. Anders recited the first words of Genesis as other words failed him at the time but later described his realisation that the Earth is just another spacecraft, like their own three-manned command module, but containing 3.5 billion people – the entire human race.  That photo became the logo and icon of so many environmental agencies.

Today, the rainbow has become a symbol for the work of the NHS staff who are risking their own health for the benefit of ensuring  good health for those millions they are serving. It is also a symbol of diversity and equality.  It has also been adopted by the Greenpeace activists as they seek to halt climate change and save endangered species.  It is, and remains a reminder that we have been left by God’s only Son’s sacrifice and the coming of the Holy Spirit to look after our world and each other.  To remind ourselves that the free will which we have been given is to be exercised wisely and in accordance with God’s promise that he will not intervene in such a devastating way again.  He has left us to look after our own spacecraft, ourselves and all those creatures he saved.

May God bless you and keep you faithful, so that you may soon safely step out of your own Ark, perhaps to a new and different world, but hopefully a better one for us all. 

Amen

                                                                                                         MFB/155/18022021

SERMON 154 - SUNDAY 13 DECEMBER 2020

Sermon on Third Sunday of Advent  (John  the Baptist) -  All Saint’s Church, Winterslow, Morning Praise Service  –  Sunday 13th December 2020

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; John 1:6-8, 19-28

Well, once again may I say how delighted I am to be with you live, so to speak, after an absence of nine months away from doing actual services. It is especially good to be here in Winterslow amongst lovely Christian friends as it was here, eight yours ago, that I gave my first sermon whilst training for the ministry!  I think, therefore, it is only appropriate that I should renew my ministry again here today.

Today we lit the third candle which reminds us that Christmas is now less than two weeks away.  Normally, we are busy bustling around the shops and preparing for relatives to arrive, meeting others for pre-Christmas drinks and so on.  What a difference this year!  Like so many of you I guess you’ve been busy on your computers or other devices ordering goods and presents on line for delivery to your own home and to others.  Many of us have been unable to see friends and relatives and have had to forgo our overseas holidays and visits in order to protect ourselves and those we love.  In other words, we have had to make sacrifices in order to save those we love. Yes, Christmas will be a muted affair this year but perhaps in so being it will make us and many like us more aware of what this celebration is all about – the coming of the Messiah, the one who saves us all!  Emmanuel, God amongst us.

I mentioned earlier that this is my first service “in the flesh” so to speak and it seems so wonderful to be back here amongst you and I wonder whether God felt the same when he sent his Son, in the flesh, to come down and dwell amongst his people.  I don’t claim to be the Messiah, I hasten to add, but it has made me realise, as I have sat at home watching the world tear itself apart, how God must have felt and why he had the overwhelming desire to get back down into the world he had created.  Just as now, back then, the world was a difficult place with so much wrong with it.

Many of you will know of my passion for astronomy.  A passion I have had since I was nine years old. During all the years of pursuing that passion I have seen many wonderful sights in the night sky – the Moon, comets, planets (especially Saturn), galaxies, nebulae, the Milky Way and so forth; but the singular most beautiful thing I have ever seen was that remarkable view of our own planet, Earth, shown to us by the lunar astronauts from the surface of the Moon.  The beauty of our planet is astounding and the one thing which struck me more than anything was how absolutely serene and peaceful it looked out there.  From outer space there are no political boundaries, no evidence of war, destruction, famine or other negative forces. It all seems so positive.  It’s God’s own creation and if you want to get close to God one way, as the Director of the Vatican Observatory, Father Guy Consolmango, recommends is to study his Creation in the Cosmos. It is by wondering at the immensity and mystery of the Universe that we get a feeling for the immensity and mystery of God.  Something for you all to reflect upon next time you look up at the night sky.

But back to today’s readings.   In our first reading, one of my favourites from the Book of Isaiah, the writer is setting out, in a beautiful poetic way, Jesus’s job description! It’s a prophecy of the person God will send down to Earth to put things right:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release the prisoners, to proclaim the year of God’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn … to give them garlands instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit”.

Wow if we ever needed such words of encouragement and comfort we certainly need them today. We are all captive prisoners in some way or another – being it lockdown or captive with our own thoughts and despair.  But we have already had the means to be free of such captivity by the Faith we have in Jesus Christ as our Saviour – even though times seem so dark. I have been involved, in my professional life, with reviewing and drafting job descriptions but this one of Isaiah’s is just perfect.  It was exactly what was needed and continues to be needed today.

John, in our gospel reading refers back to the prophecy of Isaiah reminding us that one would be sent ahead of Jesus to “make straight the way of the Lord”. He refers of course to his namesake, John the Baptist, who we read in Luke’s Gospel was a cousin of Jesus and who was conceived around the same time as Jesus himself. Both Mary and Elizabeth were unlikely mothers back then – one being an unmarried teenager and the other a woman of mature years. His own role, as the one who was to make the ways straight for Jesus, is remembered especially today with the Third Candle.  He was to prepare the way for bringing God’s love to us all.

As we know, John’s ministry began much earlier than Jesus’s.  We don’t know a lot about what Jesus was doing during the first 30 years of his life but can surmise, from many of his parables, that he had a real good handle on both Jewish family life and theology and also the commercial aspects of being involved in the running of a business – Joseph’s carpentry business in all probability.  Recent research suggests that he might have been involved in the building of a new village close to Nazareth.  John’s earlier ministry, on the other hand, is more clearly set out. 

John the Baptist never shied away from proclaiming the ministry of Jesus.  He must have been a very charismatic person for we read that many followed him and were baptised by him in the River Jordan – even Jesus himself to show that whilst he was divine he had come down in human form.  His own baptism gave a stamp of authority to all those who had been previously and latterly baptised by John.

John, in our readings, is quizzed heavily by people sent by the Pharisees who are trying to fathom out precisely who John is and what his actual job description is too. John answers “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord”. He goes on to say that he is not the Messiah because he only baptises with water, that a greater person is coming who will have the ability to baptise with the Spirit.  For the Jews, this would have been quite a revelation for up until that point the Spirit had only been bestowed upon special people for special tasks.  Now here was a hint that the Holy Spirit might be for all, just as water had been for all and any who wanted to be baptised.

I have always found it interesting, and revealing that John begins his Gospel, his story of Jesus’s life, not with Bethlehem, the shepherds and wise men coming to a dirty stable, but with the news that Jesus was always there and was coming down to bring light, life and spirit to a broken world.  Deliberately, he begins at Chapter 1 Verse 1 with the immortal phrase “In the beginning” those self-same words that begin the Jewish Torah with Genesis.  “Jesus, was, is and is to come”. Alleluia!  What a wonderful thought and something for us all to reflect upon as we hurry towards Christmas and may the Holy Spirit be with you all today and always.

 

Amen                                                                                  MFB/154/11122020

SERMON 153 - SUNDAY 25 OCTOBER 2020

Sermon on Last Sunday after Trinity  (Bible Sunday) -  Clarendon Team Service during Coronvirus Restrictions   –  Sunday 25th October 2020

Colossians 3:12-17

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience” so begins our passage of scripture this morning on this, Bible Sunday.  What absolutely beautiful words they are, aren’t they?  For me they encapsulate everything that should mark out a Christian life from anything else. 

For many, in this modern and for me, increasingly dystopian world, the bible is something which people simply don’t understand.  For many it is a book of don’ts rather than do’s.  For many, being a Christian means not having fun, having to be miserable, always being prevented from doing what you really want to do by old fashioned rules and regulation and laws.  For those of us who are Christians, we know much better and we know that we are expected to live Christ-like lives.  Jesus himself, we read, enjoyed a good party, he ate and drank with people from all walks of lives and indeed was a good storyteller and, at times, humourist (remember the story of the splinter and the plank in the eye); but above all he was the epitome of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.

Today we are expected to act strong, be brave, not show our feelings or vulnerabilities lest they be exploited.  For some, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience are by-words for weakness not strength; but I challenge anyone who has had to act humbly or seek forgiveness after doing or saying something wrong or even show forgiveness to others, to say that it hasn’t often been extremely difficult and has required an immense amount of strength to do it.

Paul, in these few words from his letter to the Christians in Colossus is reminding them that these attributes are indeed the mark of true Christianity. He goes on to express how they should behave if in dispute in verses 12-13 and the prime word here is “forgive” reminding them that to forgive is to act in the same way as God who forgives us all when we truly repent – that is say sorry and turn back to Him.  But, above all Paul, continuing in verse 14, implores us to clothe ourselves in love because from love, agape, will flow that same compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience he first talks about.

We should, in all we say and do, be ever mindful of the word of Christ which, as Christians, now dwells within us. We should support each other with wisdom and continually bind ourselves together in praise and whatever we do or say or think we should do it in the name of Jesus.  He means everything too – not just on Sunday morning in church, but also in our daily lives whether we are cooking, working, cleaning, gardening, playing golf - we should do it with that same love.

It all sounds so easy doesn’t it?  Well it’s not! I was having coffee with a group of Christian men midweek and we discussed how each of us had become a Christian. One of our number had been influenced by his wife after accompanying her to a Christian conference.  He had come to Christ at the age of 56 after a life pursuing things which could not always be described as “Godly”.  After his epiphany he had found it comforting to know that God had forgiven him for his past misdemeanours and that was a great help towards a complete healing process – however, the one thing which took many years afterwards was to forgive himself, and he is still not quite there yet.

That is what I mean about needing to be strong sometimes to be a Christian. It’s not an easy life, it isn’t all going to go well and there will still be times when the going is very tough. Those are the times when we need to feel God’s overwhelming presence and love – to feel his “charity”.

This is where the bible can be so helpful.  In my early years, when the only translation of the bible was the good old King James Authorised Version, I struggled to really understand its beautiful, flowery yet often incomprehensible out-dated language. My copy sat on my bedroom bookshelf gathering dust. As the years went by and I met other Christians through my University Christian Union and was introduced to more modern versions of the bible, I began to understand more and more of the scriptures until I realised that many of the messages contained still have great relevance today. 

The more I read and the more I see of our changing world the more I see the important messages of scripture. It is probably a combination of age and dare I say increasing wisdom, at least I like to think it’s the latter, that makes me now appreciate its messages. But the messages are, for the most part simple – like today’s message from Paul – be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient.  If you are genuinely these things, people will see them in you and you will be a true evangelist, spreading the word of scripture by what you do, think, and behave.  Praise be to God!     

Amen                                                                                              MFB/153/21102020

SERMON 152 - SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER 2020

 

Sermon on 18^th Sunday after Trinity  -  Clarendon Team Service during Coronvirus Restrictions   –  Sunday 11th October 2020

Philippians 4:1-9

In our reading this morning from Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi, we hear some very familiar words – the words probably made even more familiar to any of those of you who have sung in a sacred choir.  Indeed Henry Purcell’s setting of the words “Rejoice in the Lord always” is one of my most favourite anthems which I sang on many occasions in my youth in a church choir in Lincolnshire and indeed in Lincoln Cathedral itself.

But for many, in these days of pandemic, we can be forgiven for thinking these words being rather hollow.  What, actually, is there to rejoice about?  The world which we have known and felt secure with for most of our lives seems to be falling apart. 

In fact, Paul’s situation when he wrote this relatively short letter, was far from one of safety and comfort.  He was actually “in chains”, in prison yet he sought to write a letter of warning to his fellow Christians – for that, for the most part, is what this letter is.  His letter begins with a prayer of love and joy for its recipients because he has been well pleased with their spiritual growth but he is also anxious that they do not fall by the wayside and that their Christian growth continues. The Philippians are living in a city fiercely loyal to Rome and their pagan ways and so Paul, who is suffering in prison, is wanting to give encouragement to the Christian community to carry on with the good work and longs for them to enjoy progressively richer and deeper spiritual knowledge which will mould their lives to God’s pattern. 

Chapter 4, in particular, is a cry of encouragement despite the culture and difficulties of the day.  Despite the fact that this letter was written to a Christian community nearly two thousand years ago it could have been written to us only yesterday.

It seems from the first couple of verses read this morning that two Philippian Christian women, Euodia and Syntyche have quarrelled.  Since Paul is dealing with this in a public letter it would appear that it was probably more than a private squabble.  It suggests that they were probably two of the church’s leaders (co-workers) and so their differences could put the whole Christian community in jeopardy. Paul urges the whole church to help them resolve their differences for the benefit of the community at large.  We do not know what the disagreement was about but Paul’s next line, the “rejoice in the Lord always …” suggests that he is imploring his readers to act with gentleness and compassion so that others outside of the Christian community can see the special way, the Christian way, humankind should act.

In Verse 4 he reminds them (and us) that the Lord is always near and that we should not worry about anything.  We simply need to pray about things but in every request we make we should also give thanks for what we have already received – indeed, God’s gift of his only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Prayer, supplication and thanksgiving – they are all intrinsically interwoven.

In the last two verses of today’s reading, Paul exhorts his readers to think and concentrate,  at all times, on those things which are true, honourable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent.  We should keep on acting and living our lives with these things always at the forefront of all we do.

Today we seem to live in a world of falsehoods – at least with the proliferation of social media it is becoming increasingly difficult to discern truth from falsehood. We seem to be becoming increasingly polarised in our views.  What is one person’s truth seems to be another’s fake news. The media bombard us daily with negatives, for bad news sells better than good.  If we go with the flow of negatives then that is precisely where we will end up – negatively, having nothing to rejoice about, wrapped up in our own misery and desolation.

The antidote to all this is quite simple – we need to continually count our blessings – to pray the prayer of thanksgiving – to remember all those good things which God has done.  I found that helpful recently on my week’s break in the Lake District.  Forgetting all the bad news in the media, it was so therapeutic just to look upon those massive Cumbrian Mountains which have been there for millions of years and to feel part of God’s wonderful creation;  to walk upon those fells and commune with nature.  Paul’s words came flooding back and I found myself inwardly humming the words of Purcell’s Anthem, the words with which Paul exhorts us to live our lives – “Rejoice in the Lord Always, and again I say rejoice!”  We do indeed have so much to rejoice about.

Amen

MFB/152/11102020

SERMON 151 - SUNDAY 9 AUGUST 2020

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

Matthew 14:22-33

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SERMON 150 - SUNDAY 26 JULY 2020

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

Matthew 13:31-33; 44-52

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen 

150/23072020

SERMON 149 - SUNDAY 5 JULY 2020

Sermon on 4^th Sunday after Trinity  -  Clarendon Team Service during Coronvirus Lockdown   – Sunday 5th July 2020

Matthew 11:16-19; 25-30

May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of all our hearts, be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord.  Amen

Those final words of Jesus in this passage are, I think, very familiar to many of us and a great comfort at times when we are struggling with the burdens of life and wonder whether we can carry them any further; perhaps just as we have been feeling during this period of lockdown.

 I have certainly turned to them many times in my life when ever more burdens seem to have been loaded onto me from work, family, church and just daily living.  There was a saying where I worked for many years – “when the going gets tough the tough get going” meaning that through sheer determination we can ourselves get through the difficult times if we act tough enough.  The reality, though, can be quite different.  Often when we try and do things ourselves, without the help of others, we can make a bigger mess of things than when we started.  I have a box full of tools in my garage which I have had to buy in order to put right the things I messed up through thinking I could do DIY in the first place.  Jesus knew this and that he, through the Father, could take the burden and that we could learn through his example.  He, Jesus, tells the crowd, is gentle and humble in heart and asks us to be the same. My yoke is easy (he has the Father with him) and his burden is therefore light. Just in the same way I will leave it to the removal men to shift the piano so too should we sometime leave it to the expert – Jesus.

There is a story told of a woodpecker who, was tapping away at a pine tree one afternoon when suddenly the tree was struck by lightning and was split right down the middle from top to bottom.  The woodpecker looked at it in amazement for a moment and flew off.  He came back later leading nine other woodpeckers. Then, with a great deal of swagger and pride he turned to the nine others and said “There it is, gentlemen, just like I told you” taking credit for having split the tree with his beak.  He was not humble and had misled the others and went away with a false sense of his own importance and ability.  Jesus tells us to be gentle and humble like him and recognize that God can carry the heaviest burden – but we must also acknowledge him as our bearer of it.

Jesus was at great pains to teach the elders and the Pharisees the importance of humility and that we should accept God, not like our woodpecker friend, but like infants – believing and trusting.  We can get hung up not only on our own importance but also by our attitude towards learning and knowledge. Like the elders and Pharisees, we might know the law, we might know scripture, we might read them every day but unless we look at them in simple terms their meaning can be hidden because we are trying to see things beyond what they really are. Jesus says “God has hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and has revealed them to infants”.

How often have you heard the phrase “from out of the very mouths of babes comes wisdom?” How often has a child said something to you which has been so profound? So honest?  That is what Jesus is saying here.  We often over-complicate things, especially our faith.  Education is important, don’t get me wrong, but it is what you do with that education and knowledge. How you use it.  Do you use it wisely? Do you act out what you have learned in scripture or just add it to the list of things you store away in your cupboard of knowledge for the pub quiz! Turn that knowledge to wisdom.

Our perceptions (often false) can also get in the way of our faith as again Jesus illustrates at the beginning of the passage – ‘The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!”’ Throughout the bible we see Jesus associating with all sorts of “the wrong people” as far as the respectable elders are concerned; but Jesus’s answer is again simple “wisdom is vindicated by her deeds”.  How many people chosen by God in the Old Testament were “wrong-uns”? – Moses, a murderer, Jacob – a deceiver, Rahab a city prostitute to name but three.

James in his epistle reminds us to show our faith by the deeds we do, not that our deeds in themselves will lead to salvation but our deeds will come out of the faith we have and the way we show it in the way we behave.  That is exactly, I believe, what Jesus is telling us in this passage.  Be humble, be faithful, think simply, relax and leave the heavy burdens to the one who knows how best to carry them. After all, to do otherwise is only making our lives all that bit harder.

Amen

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