SERMON 195 - SUNDAY 25 DECEMBER 2023 - CHRISTMAS DAY

Sermon at St John’s Parish Church, West Grimstead -  Morning Worship on Christmas Day Church, Farley – Morning Worship  – Monday 25^th December 2023  (Inspired by a Daily Devotional by Susan Larson).

Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may the words which I speak be a blessing to all who hear them. Amen.

Are you all prepared for today’s celebration? Turkey in the oven, potatoes and brussels pealed, presents opened already or under the tree waiting to be unwrapped? Prosecco in the fridge chilling?  Do you know what films you will be watching after the King’s Speech or games you will be playing?

Christmas is a time of great joy, expectancy and celebration. Yet, all too often, we lose ourselves in the preparations and miss the sacredness of the season. Why does it matter? Because it’s this holiday on which we honour the birth of our Saviour. It’s this time of year when people are open to the things of God. And it’s precisely this season when Christians most often lose sight of what’s available to them in Christ Jesus.

We are people created in God’s image. We have access to his presence and his promises. So why all the strain and stress? Dare we ask ourselves what honestly matters most to us this Christmas?

God invites us to push away the clutter, turn down the noise and offer him the sacred space in our lives so that the King of Glory may enter, take up residence and radically change us from the inside out. We can race through our holiday season more stressed than blessed or we can slow down, ponder the reality of Christ within us, and respond to his miraculous work.

So why not step out of the hustle-bustle of the season. Find a quiet place during this busy time to rest and reflect. What comes to the surface for you? How have the disappointments and detours of this past year impacted you? Are you mad? Sad? Expectant and glad? Most of us tend to loosen our grip when we lose heart, yet this is precisely the time to lean in, engage our faith and dare to believe that our Saviour is also a healer.

The king of the universe is not a tyrannical leader. He’s the saviour of the world. Although we hear the Christmas story every year, again and again, it isn’t old news. It’s good news. It’s now news! Salvation isn’t just an addendum to the end of our life and Christmas isn’t just a quaint little story with shepherds and wise men coming to a stable in Bethlehem. When Jesus was born, God’s kingdom came to earth! so we ought to celebrate with joy. Give meaningful gifts to those you love. Enjoy a good party. But refuse to let the commercialism of Christmas quench the true spirit of this earth-shaking holiday season. Jesus came, and he’s coming again. Let us worship the king of glory, for he has done great things.

As we continue in our journey following Advent season, may we remember that we live in a world of overindulgence, over-commitment, premature multiplication and shortcuts. And shortcuts almost always lead to compromise. What if we did something otherworldly this season? What if we slowed our pace and reduced our intake? What if we took in the sights, the scents and decided to be fully present? What if we gave God time and space to speak to us about our needs, our hopes and his intentions toward us?

Giving gifts to the already rich is, well, fine. But offering gifts to those who cannot repay you is sacred. In the period between Christmas and New Year why not give generously and thoughtfully to someone who doesn’t expect a gift from you. Perhaps somebody who hasn’t been kind to you during the year? Surprise them with the goodness of God. Scripture reminds us that he’s good to everyone and by doing this you are really showing God’s grace in action.

When we set out to be a serious follower of Christ, we’ll often find a thousand excuses to tend to temporary things as though they’re the most important things in the world. But eternal rewards come from eternal priorities. We need to think higher, see deeper. Repeatedly, Jesus urged people to open their eyes and see the coming kingdom. See the story God is writing on the earth through us because of Jesus. Our current season is packed with eternal possibilities to do so.

We can and should change our focus, determine our pace, adjust our priorities and this could be our most life-giving Christmas yet. Whether we already walk intimately with Jesus or see him more like a distant relative, we can be assured that he’s very near and that he came to redeem every aspect of who we are. That was the greatest gift ever given at Christmas – the birth of Jesus Christ, God Incarnated, in that humble stable in the Holy Land.

 

Now that is really something to celebrate and reflect upon over these coming days.

Have a great day, enjoy being with family and friends over this holiday period, and yes do eat, drink and be merry in celebration but do use this time also to tell somebody about the true meaning of Christmas and the wonderful good news which is there for everyone and is the real reason for our celebrations.

A very Happy Christmas to you all.

Amen

MFB/195/23122023

 

 

Susie Larson (who inspired this sermon through a daily devotional piece written by her) is a bestselling author, speaker and host of Susie Larson Live. She is the author of more than 20 books and devotionals, and her Daily Blessings reach over half a million people each week on social media. She and her husband, Kevin, have three children, a growing bunch of grandchildren and a pit bull named Memphis.

SERMON 194 - SUNDAY 10 DECEMBER 2023 - ADVENT 2

Sermon at St John’s Parish Church, West Grimstead -  Morning Worship and at All Saints’ Church, Farley – Morning Worship  – Sunday 10^th December 2023  (An adaption and extension of Sermon 87)

Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may the words which I speak be a blessing to all who hear them. Amen.

Well, today sees us only just over two weeks away from Christmas! 15 days away. How has the year gone by so quickly?  Are you prepared for the celebrations which always accompany the event?  Cards written, gifts purchased, dinner plans in place, invitations sent out to relatives and so on. All done and dusted!  I have to confess that each and every year Christmas creeps up on me quicker and quicker despite knowing full well that it is celebrated on the 25^th December each and every year and the shops seem full of Christmas decorations and gifts as soon as the summer holidays are over. This year, in particular, it has come exceptionally fast for me because I have been celebrating a great landmark in my life – reaching the age of three score years and ten in late September – as well as reflecting on my past decades and ruminating on what I have achieved and what it is that God still has planned for me.

Advent, is a time in our Christian Calendar which often seems to be neglected because of all the rushing about and planning associated with the secular festival – which is a pity, as I think it is one of the most important seasons of our liturgical year – as important as Lent.  After all, it is the wonderful anticipation of God’s incarnation in the form of Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins. Jesus, the Messiah, was long awaited as he was the subject of the Jew’s long wait as foretold by Isaiah in our first reading. Advent is a time when we dig out the Old Testament prophecies to re-affirm our own faith as Christians. For this reason it should be a time when we reflect on our own frailties and limitations remembering with certain hope of the incarnation and Christ’s coming to redeem us. 

Today we lit the second of the four Advent candles on our Advent Wreath – the Candle of Preparation – in anticipation of that celebration of God’s coming to Earth.  “A light to the Gentiles”, as both Isaiah and later Simeon in the Temple put it. 

Isaiah, in our first reading is making it clear that Jesus is not coming simply as the Messiah of the Jewish people but also for all humankind.  Isaiah, and also the later prophets, declare: “Prepare the way of the Lord”. Prepare, prepare, prepare – a theme which clearly leads from and links the prophecies of the Old Testament right up to the ministry of Jesus’s cousin, John the Baptist.

There is something unusual about our Gospel reading today. Mark, unlike the two other synoptic gospellers, Matthew and Luke, does not start his narrative with Jesus’s genealogy or a description of Jesus’s birth or any visit by wise men from the east – he starts with a description of the ministry of Jesus’s cousin, John – the itinerant preacher and baptiser living in the wilderness eating honey and locusts and proclaiming the coming of Jesus – the Messiah.  The character of John is therefore most significant to our New Testament stories and cannot be underestimated.  John’s ministry is such a pivotal point between the prophecies of the Old and the ministries of the New.  Isaiah clearly also talks about Jesus, elsewhere in his writings, when he writes “A shoot shall come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots”.  The genealogy of Jesus does indeed go right back through David to Jesse and back further to Ruth and Boaz.

Back in the days of Isaiah it was usual, when any king was proposing to make a state visit within his kingdom or indeed outside it, for roads to be smoothed for his passage and the route made easily for his transport – hence Isaiah’s analogy of making the paths straight and rough places smooth as we heard read in our first reading and which was later quoted by John the Baptist. Isaiah is clearly talking about the coming of a king but not a king as he and those to whom he was writing would know or expect him to be. 

John the Baptist, during his period of ministry, repeatedly used the word “repentance” which is our English translation from the Greek word metanoya (metanoya) meaning “a change of mind; forsaking old patterns, habits and priorities; a new way of life”. 

I began this sermon this morning by saying something about how time seems to fly and also even quicken as one gets older. When I was very young Christmas seemed to take an absolute age to arrive. As with most children I was impatient for Father Christmas (as we called Santa Claus back then) to arrive and deposit my toys in the anticipatory empty stocking.  Peter in our second reading talks about the timelessness of God – his time is not our time and our time is not his!  As Peter puts it: ”One day with the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years just like one day”. It reminds me a bit of being at a football match with 15 minutes to go and one team winning 1-0.  To the supporters of the team winning those 15 minutes seem like one and a half hours and to the team losing the same amount of times seems like one and a half minutes!

We, who are bound here on Earth, measure everything in terms of the hours it takes for our planet to revolve on its axis (day) and the time it takes to complete one orbit of the Sun (year); but I can tell you, from an astronomer’s point of view, time becomes incomprehensible the further away from our solar system we observe and study. Time and distance being so vast does not to fit in easily with our own earthly understanding. The same with spiritual time – God’s time.  Peter writes :

 “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.”

Finally, Peter references the words of Paul when he says “For whatever was written in former days was written instruction so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.”

I am sure that many of us make New Year’s Resolutions of hope.  I expect many Christians also make Resolutions during Lent and maybe even on Easter Day as we think about new beginnings in the Spring season.  However, I wonder how many of us use Advent for this purpose?  Our Scriptures are full of the message of waiting and repentance.  Unfortunately, we live in a world of “having it now” and not waiting.  My mother always had a phrase she used “If it’s worth having, it’s worth waiting for”. I have, by bitter personal experience, learned the wisdom of those words.  Here is a time for us to take time out, to reflect on the past year and to think where we could have done better.  Repentance is about turning away from our sins and turning to God.  We can’t repent though unless we reflect upon what it is we are turning away from and how, by changing our life, we can be better followers of Christ.

Jesus didn’t just descend from Heaven one day, he was born.  There was a period of gestation following the Annunciation.  At the first miracle in Cana, Jesus told his mother that his time had not come – in fact following his birth in Bethlehem it took 30 years before his ministry began.  We know little about his life before then but can surmise that he was in a period of intense preparation for his short yet equally intense ministry. Likewise, Advent is a time for intense reflection and preparation.

I was reminded a few days ago of a quotation from one of my favourite theologians – the famous and very brave Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  He said

“…our whole life is an Advent season, a season of waiting for the last Advent, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth”.

I think that is an absolutely lovely phrase.  Within it is encapsulated the whole essence of this season – the season of waiting.  We lead a life of waiting – waiting to be called to a better place. It also reminds us that whilst we wait for that final time, we should be in a constant state of readiness.  Jesus himself tells us that we do not know the time or the place of his next coming but we should be alert and in readiness.

We can become so complacent.  I am also reminded of the taking of Singapore by the Japanese in the Second World War.  The British had always assumed that any attack by the Japanese or other force would come from the sea. Accordingly, all the colony’s heavy guns were pointed seaward.  The Japanese mounted a land attack across poorly defended marshland to the north.  The British were not prepared despite thinking that they were.  During their period of waiting for the inevitable attack, they could have taken steps to prepare stronger fortifications to the north.  Likewise, we cannot assume that we can gainsay God’s plans for us.  His timing is not our timing – just as the British timing was not the Japanese timing.

Bonhoeffer’s phrase also reminds us that we are here on earth for just a limited time – something which I have reflected upon quite deeply this year as I reached 70 years of age. As Paul reminded us, we are here to help others and not think just about ourselves all the time. We are here for a relatively short time, as the hymn reminds us, and then we are borne away (O God Our Help in Ages Past). We are here just for a season and in that time we should spend it living the Christian way – the way of Christ.  John the Baptist tells us that the best way to prepare ourselves for his coming is to change so that we become more Christ centred, more theocentric.  But do we really prepare ourselves fully? 

One of my favourite stories at Christmas is the short story by Charles Dickens – “A Christmas Carol”.  I am sure that sometime and somewhere over the Christmas period, on our multi-channelled TVs, there will be a screening of it again.  It struck me a few days ago that here is a really great illustration of metanoya or repentance.  I am sure I don’t need to tell any of you the plot of the story but it is worth remembering that scene towards the end of the book when, after receiving visitations from four spirits, Ebeneezer Scrooge shows how that terrifying experience has changed him so completely. Instead of being the mean miserly businessman we met at the beginning of the story, he now brings joy and hope to the poor Cratchet Family.  He has truly repented.

Scrooge needed to be visited by four spirits, we only need one – the Holy Spirit, which was left for all of us after Jesus’s ministry here on Earth was completed; that same Spirit which John the Baptist saw descending during Christ’s baptism, that hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation and which inspired Isaiah.

As you leave today pray that the Holy Spirit will show you the best way for you to prepare for his coming this Christmas and help you lead the Christian life throughout 2024 and may God’s blessing be upon all of you this Christmas and New Year.

Amen

194/08122023

SERMON 193 - SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2023 - REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

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

Micah 4:1-5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let us pray :

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

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

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

In Jesus’s name

 

Amen                                                                                                    MFB/10112023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matthew 24

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MFB/192/03112023

SERMON 191 - SUNDAY 8 OCTOBER 2023 - TRINITY 18

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It reminds us of three fundamental things:

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

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

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

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

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

Amen

 

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SERMON 190 - SUNDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2023 - TRINITY 14

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

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

Let us begin with a prayer,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Amen

 

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SERMON 189 - SUNDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2023 - TRINITY 13

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

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

Let us begin with a prayer,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen

 

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