SERMON 162 - SUNDAY 11 JULY 2021

Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Winterslow, Morning Worship -–  Sunday 11th July 2021

Mark 6 14-29

Back in my schooldays, when morning assemblies and Christian teaching were commonplace I especially loved those stories from scripture which contained blood and gore – I guess I was no different from many schoolboys of my age and times or even today.  The stories I especially loved where those of David and Goliath, the stabbing of King Eglon of Moab, the 46,000 Ephraimites being slain on the banks of the Jordan, the execution of the baker in Joseph’s prison and many more.  Indeed, the Old Testament seemed to be full of battles and bloodshed and quite often we would recreate these gory scenes in the playground – not literally I hasten to add although scraped knees and the occasional battle wound would be sustained.

The story of John the Baptist’s beheading was another of such stories and I think, as a child, I didn’t realise the subtleties of this particular story; and I wonder how many other people realise that it has a lesson for us all in today’s modern world of envy and revenge.

Mark, in our reading today, sets out the scene very clearly for us, but to recap, King Herod II (Antipas), who was the puppet monarch of the Roman occupiers in Judea, had already heard of all the miracles and particularly healings which had been carried out by Jesus and knowing what had happened to John the Baptist was now superstitious of John having come back from the dead to haunt him. So much so that he was absolutely convinced of this and that Jesus was not a mere prophet but the Baptist back.  He must have been terrified living in fear of revenge for his part in John’s death.

What is clear is that before the fateful party where Salome, the king’s stepdaughter, danced, King Herod held John the Baptist in high regard and acknowledged his righteousness.   John had warned the King that nothing good would come out of marrying his brother’s widow, Heroditas, and in our own British history I am sure this piece of scripture would have been well known to King Henry VIII when he married his brother Arthur’s widow, Katherine of Aragon.  For this reason Heroditas had a terrible hatred of John the Baptist and wanted above all things to have him done away with but Herod fearing the power which John wielded through his preaching and baptising of the common people feared both them and in particular God’s wrath knowing that his marriage and kingdom were not secure.

Then, of course, during the course of what we can only imagine was something of a drunken party he was struck by the erotic dancing of his stepdaughter and made a wild promise that she could have anything she desired up to half of his kingdom. This was King Herod showing off and trying to impress his guests with his largess. This was the moment that Heroditas had been waiting for, priming her daughter, Salome, to ask for John’s head. Revenge served up on a platter before the king and his guests.

We read that King Herod realised the mistake he had made and certainly did not want to harm John whom he feared but so as not to lose face amongst his guests he submitted to Heroditas’s request through Salome and the gruesome deed was done.  This was why when Jesus started moving amongst the populace with tales of miracles and healing King Herod feared the worst – that as John reincarnated he would be out for revenge.

When we analyse this story there are so many aspects of it which we can apply to our own attitudes and beliefs today.  In the tradition of lectio divina I wonder where, after careful reading, prayer and re-reading we would place ourselves in the story and what emotions it evokes?

Leaving aside John himself for the moment, we have a fearful king – a man who knows that his hold on power depends upon his ability to control his subjects for the benefit of the Roman occupiers – a well-known policy of Rome was to ensure that to keep control of its Empire it needed the assistance of collaborators – just as Hitler’s Nazi Germany needed Vichy France.  Also, Judea was a God-fearing nation which looked back on its history and its freedom from slavery and exile at the hands of Jahweh, the one true living God.  Herod therefore had to be careful, treading a tightrope – keeping the Romans and his religious community happy.  He also wanted to be popular with those around him to maintain his throne and power – hence the throwing of lavish parties and feasts.

Then we have a vengeful woman, Heroditas. She knows that in marrying her dead husband’s brother she is breaking with the law and thus the religious community. Although we are told this in the passage which we read this morning, she was probably not thought of well by the population – another parallel with English history – Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson.  John had been very vociferous of his condemnation of their union and this had brought about an intense hatred on the part of Heroditas.

And finally, Salome, the exotic dancing stepdaughter/niece of the king who entranced him and his guests.  She has been told she can have anything she wants up to half of his kingdom but she consults with her mother and does her bidding, asking for John’s head. Clearly she was not her own person, she was being controlled by her mother because she had to go to her to decide what she could ask for. Was she a pawn in all this – being used by her mother in the same way her stepfather was using her to titillate his guests or was she part of a wider conspiracy to remove the Baptist?

These are some of the questions which the passage poses and we may never know the true answer but when we read this passage again and perhaps again I am sure there have been times in each of our lives when we have been in similar situations to all three players – although hopefully not with such tragic consequences.

Let’s look at them again.  Herod. Have you found yourself in a situation where you have been forced to do something by another which you know was wrong or with which you found yourself very uncomfortable doing? Perhaps at work?  I know I have and I can think of a number of such times – especially when I practised law and took on a case which I was unsure about the truthfulness of witnesses for example.

Heroditas, the woman whose position was tenuous and unlawful.  Her power and strength came from being married to the king and here was a strange man influencing her husband and others emphasising her weakness.  “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” wrote William Congreve in 'The Mourning Bride' in 1697.  Have there been times when you have sought revenge or wanted to remove someone who is compromising your status or position? Perhaps not in having them murdered but perhaps in trying to remove their influence or reduce their reputation?

Finally, Salome.  How innocent is she in all this?  Well let’s say she is or at least naïve. Have there been times when you might have been used by somebody else for their benefit and not your own?  In this story, Salome could have had riches beyond compare – she could have been co-ruler with Herod but she went along with her mother’s evil plan to remove the thorn from her flesh.

All this, goes to show us how stories from the bible can help us understand ourselves and our own emotions.  Scarcely is there an issue can arise today in which we will not find some biblical precedent.  That is the beauty of theological reflection and in many cases we will discover that we are far from perfect ourselves.  Each of our three characters was flawed and each of our three characters will have displayed some of our own faults too.

This goes to remind us that whilst we all want to be Christ-like it is always a long journey which we will never complete until we are re-united with Him. We will go on making mistakes but we know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us and the Holy Spirit which, through Jesus, will intercede with us.

As they say, there but for the grace of God go any of us.  Indeed, God’s grace will always surmount our darkest moments and raises us up.

 

 

Amen                                                                                                 MFB/162/09072021

SERMON 161 - SUNDAY 6 JUNE 2021

Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Whiteparish, Morning Worship -–  Sunday 6^th June 2021

Genesis 3:8-15; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35

Well, I feel I’ve drawn a bit of a short straw this morning as each of the three readings set aside for today is, I think you will all agree, quite difficult not particularly encouraging!

First, we have God’s discovery of the Adam and Eve’s disobedience and what is known as “The Fall” – the moment when Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge so that they might be like God and know everything – an upsetting of the perfect equilibrium which God had created – the perfect world.  It is also the instance in the bible where we first come across the trickery of Satan in the shape of the serpent who convinces Adam and Eve that no harm will come to them if they eat the fruit.  How often are we tricked in today’s world by false promises and assurances that no harm will come to us if we disobey?

Secondly, we have St. Paul writing to the Christians in Corinth, that great city where sin abounded with the inhabitants worshipping false Gods and idols and Paul anxious to ensure that the Christian community did not disobey the commands of Jesus however much they might be tempted to turn away from Him. Paul is reminding them of the need to stick to the straight and narrow and that the ultimate reward of God’s glory will far outweigh the quick fixes of others.  As he puts it “we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, as a house not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens”.

My wife Liz often complains about my indolence and Paul gives me a perfect answer.  As we have seen in both of these readings the temptation was a quick fix and we can all so often have that temptation – whether it’s a sugar high or something more – we can feel good for a time but then in the longer term we suffer the consequences. My indolence, if that is what it is, is caused largely by my wish to ensure that I do right thing and not rush in and then regret what I have done.  Sometimes it has also been my undoing and I have lost out on opportunities and not “seized the day” but on other occasions waiting on or for something has actually profited me and put me in a better place in the long run.  I can think of many cases where that has happened and I am sure you all can to.

The third of our readings is probably the most difficult of all. Once again we meet Satan and the rather bizarre accusation from the scribes that Jesus is a servant of Satan, or Beelzebul as he is called in our reading.  The circumstances surrounding this biblical narrative are that Jesus has been teaching and preaching to the crowds and much of what he has said has been difficult for the scribes and elders to understand.  They worshipped Jahweh, the God of Israel who was a remote entity living within the Holy of Holies in the Temple at Jerusalem. Now here was a man, made of human flesh and bone, claiming to be Jahweh’s son – in fact Jahweh incarnate. It’s no wonder they were confused and their natural response was that Jesus was either mad or bad.  If he was not bad, a disciple of Satan preaching this bizarre theology, then he must be insane.  Indeed, the crowd seems to have believed the latter – that he was probably possessed of evil spirits.

It must have been a worry to his earthly family (his mother Mary and her other sons) who we read were called in. “Your son and brother is off his head or worse, a terrible blasphemer” is what they were faced with.

Jesus’s response to these accusations is that if he was demon possessed or a blasphemer then if they actually listened to what he was saying they would understand that he is speaking against Satan and casting our demons.  Surely somebody who was working with Satan would not be doing or saying things consistent with God’s will!  He then says something very profound indeed “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that house will not stand and if that house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand”.  I think that passage is something we should all learn and recall in today’s modern world.  In many countries of the world today evil authoritarian regimes thrive through the doctrine of “divide and rule” and this can also apply to our Christian Faith. Jesus is saying something very simple – an undivided kingdom or house is strong and will stand up against powers that seek to destroy it.  A divided kingdom or house will crumble.

Jesus doesn’t stop there though. Having argued strongly that the evidence does not support the contention that he is acting against God but against Satan he reminds the people of his true purpose of coming down to Earth – so that sins can be forgiven through him with a direct line to God and not through pious ritual in the temple; prior to Jesus coming all atonement for sins was by way of sacrifice and through the High Priest in the Temple. Now all sins could be forgiven with one major exception – blaspheming or grieving the Holy Spirit. Jesus is telling his listeners that this is one sin that can never be forgiven. So what is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit or grieving the Holy Spirit?  Well, as Christians we believe that after Jesus returned to his Father in Heaven the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost to all the disciples and from that moment on became available to all who believed. The Holy Spirit is that part of the Trinity, which we celebrated only last week, which remains here on Earth and which we readily have access to if we have true faith – that is we believe in it and ask for it.  However, once given, if we blaspheme it, that is to deny it, then we commit a sin which cannot be forgiven.  That does seem incredibly harsh but such is its power and importance in the Trinity.

After Jesus had said all these things it is clear that the scribes, elders and crowds were extremely uncomfortable and called in Jesus’s mother and earthly brothers and sisters to try and control him and take him away. We then have one of the most difficult and misunderstood passages in the whole of the New Testament Gospels. He asked the question “Who are my mother and brothers?”  You can imagine that this must have been exceedingly upsetting to his family, especially his mother who had given birth to him.  I wonder if at that moment she remembered what Simeon had said to her in the Temple about their being times of anguish with him?  In this passage he seems to be denying them.  He then goes on to explain by looking around to everybody else with him and saying “Here is my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother”.

A few years ago I discovered that this passage had caused a major rift in a family. The daughter of a non-churchgoing family had come to Christ and joined what I can only described as a sect.  Because her parents and siblings were not a member of that sect the elders told her that they were now her new family and that she must cut all ties to her blood relatives.  They quoted this passage in Mark as justification.

I don’t believe for one moment that Jesus meant to replace his own family with a new family of supporters but to supplement it.  My interpretation is that what he is saying is that if we give our life to him and do the will of God, it is as if all those who have also done so have become just the same as our blood related family.  We are all brothers and sisters of the one great family of faith.  In fact, although it isn’t very Anglican to do so, we should perhaps regularly call each other brother and sister and certainly you will often hear the term “brother or sister in Christ”.  That does not mean we shun or deny our family but that we are all members of an even larger family of Christian hope, faith and love.

Why don’t we reaffirm that now to each other by turning to the person next to us and saying “You are my brother/sister in Christ and I love you as such”.

Here is a lovely hymn which on reflection we should perhaps have sung this morning but I will end by reciting the first verse of it as a prayer to remind us of our status in Christ’s church:

“Brother, sister, let me serve you

Let me be as Christ to you

Pray that I may have the grace

To let you be my servant too”.

 

Amen                                                                                                 MFB/161/05062021

SERMON 160 - SUNDAY 16 MAY 2021

Sermon at St. Mary’s Church, West Dean, Morning Worship - Sunday 16^th May 2021

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19

Thank you again for your very warm welcome back here at West Dean again this morning.  It has seemed very strange to have been away for so long but like so many of you, Liz and I have been anxious to ensure that we remain well and take no unnecessary risks during this pandemic.  Last week we both received our second vaccinations and I must admit to feeling much more relaxed now.  It has been wonderful to see so many of you join our online services over the last few months but we hope that we can now return to some further semblance of normality as we move forward through 2021 and return to sharing worship together in person more regularly.  I thank God for so far having come through this pandemic safe and I continue to pray for you and your families likewise.

For me, the Book of Acts is one of the greatest in the whole of the Bible.  Written by Luke, the author of one of the Gospels, it continues the story of Jesus and the works of those who followed afterwards – the Apostles – and their story carries on to be our story today as modern apostles – followers of Christ.  The way in which those original followers acted is, for me, a great source of inspiration as to how we are expected to behave today.  Each of these three readings this morning – Acts, the First Epistle or Letter of John and our Gospel Reading from John – remind us how we should behave in our relationship with God and also with each; particularly as Jesus may no longer be with us here in physical form but the Holy Spirit was left to help and guide us to continue his great work.

So what is going on in our first reading this morning – from Acts. Well the context is well explained, I think, in the reading itself. Following the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, and his subsequent suicide, the disciples are one down in number. So what! you may ask? What was the significance of needing to have twelve?  Tom Wright, that well known biblical scholar, suggests that it was because Jesus had chosen just twelve disciples as being symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel.  The prophets of the Old Testament had foretold that Israel would be regathered and most of the tribes had simply disappeared after the division of the Kingdom of Israel and the great Exile of Babylon. Therefore, having twelve disciples was important on biblical grounds.  I am not sure that I agree with Tom Wright on this – certainly later on apostles were not replaced as several unpleasant things happened to them, but what is significant is that the manner in which Matthias was chosen is something we can learn today. The eleven prayed! – “Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in his ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside…” As we look to appoint a new Team Vicar and new Team Administrator there can be no better way to make the correct choice than to pray about it.  Here we have the perfect biblical precedent. So, I ask that you continually prayer for God’s chosen to be appointed to those important posts.

In our second reading the apostle John, in his epistle, reminds us that having belief is not simply about paying lip service – just relying, as he puts it, on human testimony – it’s about having a real belief in Jesus as the Son of God, a belief that Christ is the incarnation of God on Earth; an existential belief. As we saw last week, the most important aspect of being a Christian is this fundamental belief – not simply to believe in God the Father, the Creator of all Things etc. etc. but also, as we say in the Creed, in the Son and his death and resurrection being the creation of eternal life for us all who genuinely and honestly believe. There can be no compromise on this belief, it’s a non-negotiable for a Christian. John puts it even stronger “Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Wow, how powerful is that!

Jesus does not require us to go out on a limb though – going it alone. In our final Gospel reading he connects with his disciples, realising that as he ascends to heaven he is leaving his work for them to continue.  His disciples were very much “of the world” – fishermen, tax collectors, businessmen and so on. Until called they were very much in and of this world scratching a living from their respective professions and indeed, in the case of Matthew, not very honestly at that! Jesus, though, acknowledges that at all times they belonged to his Father – just as each and every one of us does, whatever our original status or integrity - and that they were given to him by his Father to assist him in his earthly ministry and beyond. Jesus acknowledges that they have been transformed – that now they believe and understand why Christ came and that there continues to be work to be done.

Jesus asks that his Father protects them as he leaves them on their own to carry on his ministry. “They are yours, You gave them to me”, he prays, “now I give them back to you into your safekeeping as I leave to join you in Heaven”. He realises that their ministry will not be easy – and as we know many suffered dreadful fates for their faith – that they will be hated and despised – just as Christ was. Their situation is that, unlike Jesus, the disciples/apostles whilst no longer being “of this world” remain “in this world” – a concept we looked at a few weeks ago.  They need protecting just as Jesus needed his Father’s protection until it was time for the ultimate sacrifice to be made.

So what does this mean for us, his modern disciples? Well, we are currently in that strange period in the Church’s calendar between Ascension and Pentecost. During that period we have “Thy Kingdom Come” reflection time to think about what all this means.  After they said farewell to Jesus at the Ascension the disciples were told to go back home and stay inside until the Holy Spirit came. It must have seemed a strange state of affairs for them.  We recently have experienced something similar – “go, stay at home until the vaccination appears”! We now know what it is like to be under a sort of house arrest – hoping and praying for better times.  The disciples were not sure quite what to expect or how it would end. They needed to rely substantially on their Faith and the words of prayer spoken by Christ on their behalf.  First of all they had seen their leader, their rabbi, tortured and executed, then resurrected and now whisked off to Heaven. They must have felt lost and lonely.

But the story doesn’t end there – not for them and certainly not for us. In a few weeks we shall celebrate Pentecost – the day that the Holy Spirit entered the lives of those self-same disciples.  The promise God made to protect and sanctify them arrived and today that promise still exists. The Holy Spirit is there available, free of charge and delivery without the need of Amazon, for all who want it and truly believe in its power. Many people believe that the Holy Spirit and miracles belong in the pages of the Bible – historical or fictional stories.  Not so!  I have seen the workings of the Holy Spirit myself and I am sure many of you too have.  Sometimes we may not recognise it at the time but then, just like when we look at a painting on the wall from a bit of a distance, it becomes clear and obvious.

Just like those early apostles whom Jesus describes as being in the world but not of it, we too should emulate that. We live and work in the world, we interact with people in the world but because of our faith as Christians, our belief in Jesus as the Son of God and not just a good man or prophet, we too are not of the world but ministers of God’s heavenly world here on earth.

Let us end with the famous quote of St. Teresa of Avila:

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, yours are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

 

Amen                                                                                                 MFB/160/14052021

SERMON 159 - SUNDAY 9 MAY 2021

Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Farley, Morning Worship -  –  Sunday 9^th May 2021

Acts 10:44-48; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17

Thank you again for your very warm welcome back here at Farley again this morning.  It has seemed very strange to have been away for so long but like so many of you, Liz and I have been anxious to ensure that we remain well and take no unnecessary risks.  On Tuesday I received my second vaccination and I must admit to feeling much more relaxed.  It has been wonderful to see so many of you join our online services over the last few months but we hope that we can now return to some further semblance of normality as we move forward through 2021 and return to sharing worship together in person more regularly.  I thank God for so far having come through this pandemic safe and I continue to pray for you and your families likewise.

For me, the Book of Acts is one of the greatest in the whole of the Bible.  Written by Luke, the author of one of the Gospels, it continues the story of Jesus and the works of those who followed afterwards – the Apostles – and their story carries on to be our story today as modern apostles – followers of Christ.  The way those original followers acted is, for me, a great source of inspiration as to how we are expected to behave today.  Each of these three readings this morning – Acts, the First Epistle or Letter of John and our Gospel Reading from John – remind us how we should behave in our relationship with God and with also with each.

Whenever we read scripture we should always ask ourselves two questions – first, what is the context of the passage? What is going on? Why?  It has been said that knowing the context is so important because if you take the “text” out of “context” all you are left is with a “con”.  So we will first look at each piece of scripture this morning and see it in its context.  Then we need to ask ourselves a second question. What meaning does it have for us today? 

Looking first at Acts, the context is that Peter, that wonderfully impulsive disciple upon whom Jesus was to build his church, had been on a preaching tour. Earlier he had met with a Roman army officer, Cornelius, in the city of Caesarea which was an important outpost of the Roman Empire, and converted him to Christianity.  Inspired by this and encouraged by Cornelius he had then gone on to spread the Gospel amongst the Gentiles – non-Jews in the area. His preaching was principally about Jesus as the Messiah having been prophesised about in the Old Testament and the importance that the forgiveness of sins was no longer simply a matter of asking the Jewish High Priests to make sacrifices in the Temple.  The ultimate sacrifice had been made on the Cross and everybody was now free to intercede with God through the resurrected Christ.

It is clear that he had drawn a large crowd around him, both his own Jewish followers as well as many non-Jews.  At this time, his Jewish followers – the “circumcised” as they are called in our passage – thought the message of Jesus was for them alone and not for the non-Jews as well.  This is why they suddenly became amazed when they realised that the Holy Spirit had also descended on the Gentiles evidenced by the fact that they started talking in other languages and praising God – not some other Gentile God but their very own  Jewish God!    The Gentiles were then baptised just as the whole household of Cornelius had been baptised – accepting the Christian Faith and the God of the Jews for themselves.

This is an amazing passage because it reminds us that nobody, absolutely nobody, is excluded from seeking and receiving the free gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Christianity is an inclusive and not an exclusive faith and that is something we must all remember and keep at the forefront of our thoughts – Jesus came into the world for everybody irrespective or race, creed, colour or sex or indeed whether they were pure or sinners.  Even today we hear of hardened criminals being converted to Christianity in prison and going on to become evangelists themselves not to mention the thousands of Muslims in Africa who are hearing the word of the Gospel and converting.

In our second reading this theme is continued. The three epistles of John, are called “letters” although they are not written, as Paul’s are, in the style of a letter and they are assumed to be John’s work because of the similar style to that of his gospel writing. 1 John appears to have been written essentially to combat some early form of Gnosticism from former church members who now thought themselves possessing superior knowledge of God beyond that of the  traditional Jewish view of God and the world. John in the passage read this morning is emphasising again that EVERYONE, yes EVERYONE who believes that Jesus was Christ, the Messiah has been blessed with this knowledge and that to love one another is to share God’s nature and to be absolutely certain of it. It does not require intense theological study or some special rank or academic award to know God.  Nobody is excluded from God’s love who truly believes.  There is no special knowledge required to be saved other than a certain faith in Jesus as our saviour.

Finally we have Jesus’s own words in John’s Gospel reading. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love”; and of course his commandments are to love God and to love one another as he has loved us.

For me, this is one of the most important statements made by Jesus whilst with us on Earth; having a complete and sacrificial love for God and our fellow humans.  Jesus, as we know, went through an agonising time in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to his father that the time of trial could be put aside and that he would not have to sacrifice his life in such a gruesome manner. That is why he says “No greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  Jesus went a stage further, he laid it down not just for those who were friendly towards him but also those who hated him too.

Jesus ends his speech to his disciples in this passage by saying “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name”.   

Whether we like the idea or not, we are all here as practising Christians because we were chosen – called. A calling to ministry does not necessarily mean a calling to authorised ministry, to be collared, but a calling to carry out those commandments laid down by Christ. Your ministry may take many varying forms - all equally important in the eyes of God; but it does require us to discharge it for him and for the world he created, not just for ourselves.  A good start is to remember the events described in our Acts reading.  Because we go to church and worship God does not necessarily mean that we are in any way special or different from any one else that God created.  That is verging on the heresy of Gnosticism which John was trying to combat in his epistle. Anyone can benefit from the love of God and his gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We are the conduit through which people of little or no faith can find it – through our varying ministries - be they encouragement, teaching, pastoral care, friendship, listening, our good behaviour, kindness and so on. If others see us loving one another in our Christian communities and also those without them, whatever their current beliefs, race, creed, colour or sex, then we are truly the modern day apostles of Christ – going out into the world to spread the good news of Christ.

It’s an enormous responsibility and when I see so much racism, hatred of those different from others and fear of others unlike ourselves these passages read out today hold a greater and more powerful influence on our Christian values than I can ever remember.

As Jesus said to his disciples at the end of Matthew’s gospels – we are meant to go out into the world and spread the good news but first of all we must love God and love each other before anything else.  Then we are truly his disciples.

 

Amen                                                                                                 MFB/159/05052021

SERMON 158 - SUNDAY 2 MAY 2021

 

Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Whiteparish, Morning Worship -  –  Sunday 2nd May 2021

Acts 8:28-40

Thank you again for your very warm welcome back here at Whiteparish again this morning.  It has seemed very strange to have been away for so long but like so many of you, Liz and I have been anxious to ensure that we remain well and take no unnecessary risks.  On Tuesday I am, hopefully, receiving my second vaccination and then we can feel much more relaxed.  It has been wonderful to see so many of you join our online services but we hope that we can now return to some further semblance of normality as we move forward through 2021 and share worship together in person.

We had two readings this morning.  I think our Gospel reading is probably more familiar to most of us – and I know I have preached on it quite a few times – I rather like vines and their products – fermented grapes – nothing quite beats a good Claret – but this morning I have decided to concentrate on our other reading from Acts which I have always found quite inspirational for quite a few reasons which I’ll explain as we go on.  So let’s first look at the passage again and for this I am going to use the assistance of “The Message” – the paraphrased version of the bible by Eugene Peterson to see it in its context.

Well, first of all, who was this eunuch and whom did he serve?  We are told that he was in the service of Queen Candace of Ethiopia but there are no historical records of such a person reigning with that name.  The name Candace is actually Kandake and means the mother of the king of Nubia – in other words, she was the “The Queen Mother”. Nubia was a kingdom to the south of Aswan on the Nile. The term “eunuch” could have meant “trusted servant” and he probably had been emasculated meaning he would have been barred from the inner courts of the Temple at Jerusalem.  In fact why the eunuch was in Jerusalem in the first place worshipping there is another mystery but the implication seems to be that he was a Gentile who, nevertheless, worshipped Israel’s God but had not become a fully converted Jew. His reading of Isaiah might be quite significant too as in his writings Isaiah held out the promise that God would grant devout eunuchs heritage “better than sons and daughters (Isaiah 56:3-5) and he may have thought by worshipping the Jewish God he could be made whole.

The importance to us as Christians today, though, is the working of the Holy Spirit upon Philip – bringing together the ministry of the word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit – both leading to the third type of ministry – the ministry of the sacrament with ultimate baptism of the eunuch.

We read that Philip received a heavenly message from God telling him to take himself along the road from Jerusalem to Gaza – the main road anyone taking themselves south from Jerusalem to Egypt and the Nile would have to take across the desert. Obediently Philip does just this not knowing why he is being told to go into the wilderness.  It might have seemed a strange request but as we read it was with a specific reason – to meet up with the eunuch on his travels back to Nubia.

I wonder, have you ever had the experience of Philip?  Have you ever been diverted from where you are or what you are doing in order to tell somebody the Good News?  When I read this passage again it reminded me of an event which occurred only this week.  I took my first ride on a bus into Salisbury last Monday to attend a medical appointment at the medical centre on Fountains Way. I nearly got off outside Marks and Spencer but decided to stay on to Blue Boar Row outside Debenhams instead.  I really don’t know why as I had originally intended to walk up Fisherton Street from the corner of Barclays Bank. My change of plan meant that I would now walk by the library and past the Big Issue seller.  He started to engage me in conversation and having established he obtained his copies of the Big Issue from Alabare Place where I am the chaplain he was anxious to tell me that he was a born again Christian. We ended up praying together for the recovery of the city of Salisbury from its passed problems – Novachoc and Covid and I also prayed for him and his ministry on the streets of the city. He went away, I believe, feeling that his life was worthwhile even if difficult.  That conversation would never have happened if I got off the bus where I originally intended.

I think Philip had a similar experience, and I believe we all can have the experience of the Holy Spirit compelling us to do something different for a purpose.  We should never ignore those feelings and messages otherwise we may miss out and are, effectively, disobeying the Spirit.

The next lesson we are taught from the eunuch’s story is the need to fully study scripture and understand it.  We can easily read our bibles, especially those passages which are so familiar to us – like the gospel reading today – but never really understand what they are saying to us in today’s modern world. The bible Society tells us that when we read the bible we should ask ourselves two questions – what did the passage mean in its original context?; what does this passage mean for my life today?  Understanding the passage in its original context is most important – especially as scripture is, at its youngest, still 2,000 years old. There is a wonderful adage which says if you take “text” out of “context” all you are left with is a “con”.  That is why we must first of all examine what is actually happening in our story, who the eunuch is, where is he from, what is his mission, what is he reading and why?  Then understand how and why Philip is placed in the situation he is.

We learn that the eunuch has been reading the passage from Isaiah which describes and prophesies about Jesus.  The eunuch, whilst understanding the words of the passage is confused as to whom the passage refers.  Philip is on hand to explain that it is about Jesus and is given the opportunity to spread the gospel to this Gentile.  He clearly does a good job as the eunuch immediately wants to be baptised and become a Christian.  What a wonderful piece of witnessing! Like my story about the Big Issue Seller, if Philip had not obeyed the call to witness he would never have met the eunuch.

We read that with Philip having done his ministry, he was then whisked away to do further witnessing all the way to the great port of Caesarea. I wasn’t whisked away after my meeting with the Big Issue Seller but I like to think that I can continue to spread the Good News to others I meet within my sphere of influence.

We don’t know what happened to the eunuch after that but assume he safely returned to the Queen Mother of Nubia and told her all he had experienced. What we do know today is that South Sudan and Ethiopia are very strong areas of Christianity in Africa with the wonderful rock churches of Lalibela, built after a later pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and that the roots of their Orthodox Christianity go back to the time of the Apostles. Perhaps it did indeed all start with our eunuch. The Great Cross of Lalibela (a small replica of which I have here) is said to have great healing powers and is the powerful draw for modern day pilgrims.

So what are we to learn from this piece of scripture for our everyday lives? Well, as said before, to learn to obey God’s call to ministry when we receive it, however we receive it; to read scripture carefully in context and call upon others to help us understand it if and when we struggle with it; and that the three types of ministry – Ministry of the Word, Ministry of the Spirit and Ministry of the Sacrament are all important to each other, that one is not more important than the other and that we need all three in order to be holistic, whole Christians.  Many disputes within and outside the church have majored on the differences and perceived conflicting importance but, like the Trinity, you need all of them - the Three in One.

This is what our eunuch received – the Holy Spirit sending Philip to him; an interpretation of the Holy Word with the help of Philip and finally his Baptism.

I say Amen to that!

 

Amen                                                                                  MFB/158/30042021

SERMON 157 - SUNDAY 11TH APRIL 2021

 Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Winterslow, Morning Worship -  –  Sunday 11^th April 2021

Acts 32-35

Thank you again for your very warm welcome here at Winterslow this morning.  It is always a delight to be here with you and the hymn which we have just sung, which I wrote this week especially for this service, I am dedicating to you and this church in recognition of the all your support and growth of my faith over the many years I attended here regularly as a member of this congregation.

It was with extreme sadness, yet I guess not surprise, that we heard that the Duke of Edinburgh died on Friday morning – in fact I didn’t hear of it until quite a few hours later.  I think it will leave a hole in the lives of many and marks the passing of an era.  As the Archbishop of Canterbury said he faithfully supported our Queen over 73 years of devoted service through turbulent and changing times from the end of Empire to the establishment of the British Commonwealth of Nations; through the numerous changes of government and prime ministers and above all the triumphs and tragedies of Royal Family life – never unwavering in his support and dedication to our Queen.  Without him, Queen Elizabeth must feel a great loss and emptiness and we pray that at this time her family and ministers will all pull together to support her, just as her husband did.

Our reading from Acts couldn’t be more appropriate. It reminds us how those early Christians, the followers of Jesus, conducted themselves after Jesus’s return to his Father on Ascension Day. They too would have been at a great loss – probably disorientated and in despair immediately following his crucifixion – anxious worried and frightened.  Then bewilderment at his resurrection and return amongst them – so bewildered and, in Thomas’s case unbelieving, that it must have taken quite a strength of belief to get their heads around it all. Then, finally, his farewell and ascension into heaven leaving them probably more bewildered and disorientated than ever.

Of course, we know how the story continues – Pentecost and the coming down of the Holy Spirit to them and to all believers then and in the future including us today; but I am getting ahead of myself. Pentecost is still a few weeks off.

The NIV version of our passage this morning reads “All the believers were one in heart and mind”.  Let us just pause there for a moment – “all were one in heart and mind”. I wonder how many times today we can say that about any group of individuals.  In my years as both a lawyer and minister rarely have I come across such situations – indeed, my legal career was built on and around disputes of one kind or another and upon people doing unlawful things to others.  Even in church and voluntary bodies, let alone the work environment, there are frequently clashes of personalities, differences of opinion and long running disputes and feuds. Churches I have to say, in my experience, are particularly bad which seems such a contrast and paradox to what we have just heard about those early Christians.

We are all human and therefore we do, indeed, have different views and opinions but it is really how we behave towards others even when we might be in dispute over whether to serve bourbon biscuits or custard creams with the morning coffee – if only we could!  When you read the letters of Paul, they are frequently replies to letters that he himself had  received from the various churches questioning his theology or asking him to settle disputes amongst themselves – Galatians is a good example. It would be quite interesting to read those letters to Paul as well as the letter we do read from him.  I think we might find many of them written in a similar vein to Victor Meldrew or “Annoyed of Tonbridge Wells”.

The importance of this narrative in Acts was that in their early days the first Christians were trying to establish themselves as a group of people looking after themselves and the needy – following in the footsteps of Christ, following his example of not amassing possessions for themselves as individuals but of sharing.  When I first read this passage I thought that it sounded very much like a Communist manifesto.  Indeed, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was accused by the White Supremacist Government of South Africa of being a communist activist in his preaching and writings. His response was to say that nothing he preached or taught or spoke was at variance with what they would find in that same book upon which each and every Member of Parliament too their Oath of Allegiance when they took up their office – the Holy Bible.  The Archbishop of Cape Town was simply reminding them that as a Christian nation their duty was to uphold those same principles taught in that book.

Today I believe the Church has a most important role to play in our society – in upholding morals and reminding the population at large of our duties to show compassion and help to those less fortunate than ourselves and ensure that we keep those objects always in our sights.

I heard a lovely story once about a group of villagers on the Cornish coast who were concerned about the number of shipwrecks and loss of life happening along their particular stretch of coastline.  I think it might be a story which Nils told and my apologies to those who may already know it, but I think it acts as a good parable today.  Anyway, this group of villagers decided that they needed to do something about it and clubbed together to found a Lifeboat Society which produced a lifeboat and clubhouse.  Things went well and the lifeboat did indeed save many lives but as time went on the social side increased and they built a bigger and better clubhouse, increased their membership, formed different committees, held dances and gala dinners whilst all the time the lifeboat and boathouse started to fall to pieces and before long nobody really could remember why they had formed the club in the first place.  Factions arose, disputes arose and out at sea people continued to drown.  One faction broke off and founded another Lifeboat Club and the same thing happened all over again.

The moral of the story?  Well I think it is quite self-explanatory.  We should never stop thinking why any society or organisation was formed in the first place and the church is no exception.  I have seen it happen in churches – and I hasten to add I am not including Winterslow by the way – but in quite a few “free churches” I have seen the wonderful founder’s or planter’s very laudable aims evaporate as different factions or authoritarian administrators have taken over.  Like those early disciples we need to get back to the basics of Jesus’s teachings.

At this time of the Christian calendar we remember the great sacrifice which Jesus made for us all on the Cross – celebrated in the words and music we heard today – but let us also remember his earlier ministry, his teachings, parables, and actions and follow in his footsteps, “with one heart and mind” just as did those first disciples in Acts.

 

Amen                                                                                          MFB/157/10042021

SERMON 156 - THURSDAY 2 APRIL 2021

 Sermon on Maundy Thursday -  Clarendon Team Online Service  –  Thursday 1^st April 2021

Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-7, 31b-35

There can be no doubt that this year, as with last, this important service in our Christian Year, Maundy Thursday, has to take on a strange and unusual form as we celebrate it together online.  Normally, we are familiar with the physical aspects of this service which give us such a vivid imagery of what took place on that evening immediately before that first Good Friday – the washing of feet, the partaking of bread and wine and the vigil in the garden – all real and actual physical elements of those important events.

Whilst we cannot do anything of these things together this year, we can, nevertheless, reflect strongly on their significance and the words associated with them.  In our Gospel reading John reminds us of Jesus’s words to Peter when he demanded that Jesus wash all of him, of Jesus’s revelation that one of those who was going to sit at the table and eat and drink with him at the last supper was to betray him.  We all know the story so well, I dare say, but have we ever thought to really reflect how these words connect with us today?  How the disciples must have felt to hear them and the disbelief and anguish they suffered after Jesus was arrested?

Let’s look a little closer at each of these elements.

The washing of feet.  This was usually the task of the lowliest person in a household – an unpleasant task as the feet, however clean the rest of person might be, would still be rather dirty and smelly as their owner had trudged through the dusty dirty streets in open sandals to reach the house of their host. The host would therefore arrange for somebody to undertake this task so that the guest would be completely clean. Jesus is thereby reminding his disciples that he came into the world to serve, not to be served and implores his disciples to likewise serve each other.  We are his modern day disciples and we too are expected to act humbly and serve one another. We no longer wash the feet of our guests because we have rather more sophisticated footwear these days but there are many other ways in which we can show our humility and service – by giving our time and money, without detriment to our family, to help others.  During this past year of the pandemic it has been wonderful to see so many doing just that by helping those who find it difficult to get out or who have struggled in other ways.

However, this story of the feet washing has another major point to illustrate. Peter, once more, doesn’t really understand what Jesus is trying to portray. He asks Jesus to wash him all over thinking that he, in allowing Jesus to do this, is currying favour with him by allowing him to do this and fully cleansing him.  As mentioned before, it would be expected that the guest had cleaned himself up already before attending upon his host except for the feet which, of the necessity of travel, would have become dirty. That is why Jesus says “You have no need of further washing if the rest of you is clean” and then goes on to reveal his knowledge of his forthcoming betrayal when he says “but not all of you are clean”. A clear reference to Judas Iscariot’s complicity. 

The bread and wine. We are informed in the bible that after the meal was concluded Jesus took the bread and wine and this was shared out amongst the disciples.  In our Epistle reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds us of the words spoken by Jesus as he did so. He reminds us that the bread and wine are symbols of his soon to be broken body and shed blood.  Of course those words are very familiar to all of us as part of the Liturgy for the Eucharist or Holy Communion.  As we normally go up to the Altar to receive them during the Holy Communion service these words are repeated as the bread and the wine are administered to us.  Today that cannot happen because of the Covid-19 restrictions.  However, I would like to suggest a good way of using these elements to remember the great sacrifice he made for us.

Back in those times, wine, corn/wheat and oil were often the means by which people were paid for their labours. These were essential – corn or wheat to make bread, oil as fuel and wine as purified water. Every day people would eat bread and drink wine – a common every-day and essential occurrence. In asking his disciples to remember his sacrifice on the cross each and every day of their remaining lives he took those everyday necessities and used them to symbolise his forthcoming fate. Likewise, as his modern day disciples so should we remember him in our everyday lives and be in communion with him; not just when we take the sacraments in church on a Sunday or at a formal church or worship service but every time we sit down with our families and/or fellow Christians to eat and drink. Meal times were very important to Jesus, he loved a good party or feast, and similarly to the early Christians as we read in Acts how those early Christians met in each other’s home to break bread and presumably also drink wine remembering Jesus’s sacrifice as they did so.

At Passover celebrations in the Jewish faith, an empty chair is set aside for Elijah at the meal table, who, it is believed, will return to join in those Passover remembrances one day in the future.  It is therefore very significant that Jesus’s trial and execution occurred at around that time of year when the Passover is celebrated and why Jesus used that special supper as the occasion to meet with his disciples and tell them what was about to happen. The symbolism is massive but at the same time simple and ordinary.  That is how Jesus wants us to remember him and have a relationship with him – in our everyday lives as a fellow diner with us.  In many traditions, for example in the navy, during or after a meal there is a toast to absent family members, friends and fellow serving officers and ratings – to remember them and feel close to them.  Jesus wants us to feel close to him too at those times.

The vigil in the garden. The third element of the Maundy Thursday services is the vigil in the garden. In past years many of our churches have gone to wonderful efforts to make these gardens inside our churches so realistic to enable us to re-enact the time Jesus spent in the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples in order to pray to his Father before he was arrested, tried and executed.  He asked only one thing of his disciples, minus of course Judas, and that was that they stay awake with him.  Of course we know that they fell asleep!  If any of you have undertaken the vigil on Maundy Thursday you may have yourself started to nod off.  I have to confess that I have. In a way that was also a betrayal of Jesus, and, as we afterwards learn, they also denied their involvement with him and/or ran away.  It is a reminder that we should at all times be vigilant in our Faith, to be alongside him as he is alongside us – remember when Jesus said to his disciples – “you know not when the thief may come in the middle of the night”.  It is yet another reminder that our Faith should never be put away in a box to bring out on Sundays or on special occasions, but that we should to awake to his presence with us at all times.

As we move forward in our Easter remembrances and celebrations, hopefully with family and friends as much as we can, let us apply all of these elements to our thinking and remembrance of the great sacrifice which Jesus made for all of us, atoning for our sins and the great debt we owe to Him every day of our lives.

Amen                                      MFB/156/31032021