SERMON 10 - SUNDAY 1 JULY 2012

SERMON 10 - SUNDAY 1ST JULY 2012 - All Saints' Parish Church, Whiteparish

Jeremiah 11:1-14 & Romans 13:1-10

In just over five weeks’ time, my 15 year old son and I will be boarding an Easyjet airliner from Bristol International Airport – yes we would appreciate your prayers!  – for a destination in Poland – Krakow to be precise.  No, we didn’t get the dates of the Euro 2012 international football competition wrong nor are we going there to enjoy the gourmet delights of Polish cooking.  We are going to visit the historic sites of this Polish city – the cathedral with its trumpeter in the tower, the Cloth Hall, the wonderful market square, the beautiful  buildings and other wide squares and avenues – all of which have graced our TV screens recently – at least the TVs of those who follow football.  The city of Krakow has a deep and rich history - but it also has a very dark one too for, indeed, during the Nazi occupation in the 1940s, it was the capital of Hitler’s General Government of Poland under Hans Frank with its own large Jewish Ghetto.

About 30 miles west of Krakow, the rivers Vistula (which runs through Krakow) and the Sola meet in a town with exactly the same size of population as Salisbury – 48,000.  So like Salisbury it is a place where rivers meet; it also has a large church with a tallish spire.  There the resemblance stops – for this town has a large industrial zone on its outskirts. It also has something else! The town’s name is Oswiecim – better known in the west by its German name - Auschwitz  - and this is the principal reason for our trip.  My son has been doing some project work about the Holocaust and instead of going on an organised school trip, elected to go with me because I’ve been there before.  Let me tell you briefly about that previous visit. For three consecutive nights after that first visit, I had the most horrible nightmares as I saw myself in the queue for selection – death or life. An intense feeling of utter evil seemed to pervade the whole place.  The horror recorded in that monument to inhumanity is indescribable and shook my then quite weak faith.  How could a God allow such suffering?  What was the purpose of it all?  Could there really be a God?

 That first visit was in 1989 when I was much younger than I am now – although not as young as my son – and I was in my “wilderness years” as far as my faith was concerned.  It wasn’t the most important thing in my life and could easily get de-railed – fortunately it didn’t, but it did wobble from side to side.

I sat down to read tonight’s two readings a few weeks ago and have to confess that I struggled with them both.  I thought, “whatever can I say in this sermon as these readings are so difficult. In the extract we heard from Jeremiah, the prophet is telling his listeners that having broken the words of the covenant with Moses, by not obeying what they were told to, the Jewish Nation will have disaster brought upon it and any prayers offered up will not even be heard, let alone answered!  Pretty heavy stuff!  This appears, on the face of it to be God deliberately turning his back on his own chosen.  How does that relate to the God of love we encounter in the New Testament?  

The answer to that question is to be found in the question itself.  It needed a new covenant – or testament – to bring not only the Jewish people back on track but also provide salvation to the profane or Gentiles.

Turning back to Jeremiah for a moment, you see, the Jews firmly believed that the Babylonian captivity, the Exile, had been brought about by their disobedience of the commandments or the law of the Torah.  They thought that only a strict adherence to the law was the way to salvation as a nation as a whole.  When they understood that a Messiah was coming they assumed that he would establish a kingdom like that of David’s and Solomon’s not a Kingdom of Heaven based on Grace.  This is why Jesus became so frustrated with the Pharisees who believed in religiosity – strict adherence to or religiously following ritual and rubric – thinking that was all that was needed. Some of us today can fall into that trap too.  Where church attendance and styles of worship become the end rather than the means and we lose sight of the bounty of God’s love and grace through the way we live our lives and love and serve our neighbours. God needed to come down himself in the form of Man to put the record straight.

Let’s fast forward, whizzing through the Gospels and Acts until we get to this great piece of writing from Paul to the Church in Rome.  More than any other letter of Paul’s, Romans sets out the post Pentecostal theology as taught by him.

In the passage read tonight, (which incidentally we studied in our house group only this week, on Thursday), Paul is imploring his readers to subject themselves to governmental authorities (in this case the Roman Imperial Government – Emperor and Senate) for he says, quite categorically, all authority comes from God.  The theme is once more “obedience” with a belief that if you do good and act in accordance with the state’s laws, then the state cannot harm you.  These words are sometimes referred to as Paul’s “Theology of the State” and I think can be contradictory at times.  It is my belief, and that of some far more eminent theologians, that these words must be read specifically in the context of the time.  The Church in Rome was in a very vulnerable position – being located in the capital of a large and powerful pagan empire – and Paul was anxious to impress upon the church there that it should not act in a manner that might bring about its own destruction by disobedience.

Paul, and we Christians, can, however, take a direct lesson from Jesus’s own teachings. You will recall, in an attempt to trick him into displaying a treasonable attitude, he was asked by the elders in Matthew 22:17-21 whether taxes should be paid to Rome.  He answered by asking to see the coin used to make payment and whose head appeared on the coin – the Emperor Tiberius.

Does this mean that we must be obedient to all authority at all times?  Those who ran Auschwitz – the major players – at the Nuremberg trials often tried to hide their guilt behind the “mantra” – “I was only obeying orders”.  Does that exonerate them then?  Surely the authority to kill 1.1 million people in the gas chambers of Auschwitz wasn’t authority from God?

Back in 1989 I thought to myself, if I had been a guard in Auschwitz I would have refused to have obeyed orders or if I had been a potential victim I would have risen up with others against the guards.  But would I?  It’s a frightening thought that I am not sure I know the answer to that question.  What is Paul really saying to us today?

A clue might be revealed in the life story of a modern day living Christian.  A few weeks ago, a few of us from the Clarendon Team, including Jane and myself, were invited to Godolphin School to listen to a Chinese Christian by the name of Liu Zhenying (Liu Cheng-ying) better known as Brother Yun or “The Heavenly Man”.  His autobiography is contained in this book called “The Heavenly Man” which I subsequently bought from Amazon and have read from cover to cover in a couple of weeks.  It is quite an easy read and it contains some remarkable stories about his conversion to Christianity, his spiritual growth, persecution, torture and imprisonment and also some amazing miracles including his remarkable escape from Zhengzhou (Chengchow) Maximum Security Prison.  It is a great testimony to the remarkable power of God and the Holy Spirit.

However, this evening, I want to just read you one small passage towards the end of the book which I think shows a true Pauline attitude to faith from a situation in the 21^st Century.  Brother Yun writes as follows (pages 286 – 287):-

“Once I spoke in the West and a Christian told me, “I’ve been praying for years that the Communist government in China will collapse, so Christians can live in freedom”.  This is not what we pray!  We never pray against our government or call down curses on them.  Instead we have learned that God is in control of both our own lives and the government we live under.

God has used China’s government for his own purposes, moulding and shaping his children as he sees fit.  Instead of focusing our prayers against any political system, we pray that regardless of what happens to us, we will be pleasing to God”.  We shouldn’t pray for a lighter load to carry but a stronger back to endure.  Then the world will see that God is with us, empowering us to live in a way that reflects his love and power.  This is true freedom”.

Since 1989, I have moved out of the wilderness (although I do sometimes pop back for the odd fleeting visit) and I think I am a little further along my own spiritual road.  I have never experienced or witnessed anything like some of the scenes described in Yun’s book but like to think that my faith has been strengthened by some of the things which have happened to me over the intervening years.   I have certainly seen other’s faith strengthened by suffering.

I am encouraged by stories like Yun’s but wonder whether I will view things any differently, after 23 years, when I arrive in that small town in southern Poland in August.  The horror will be no less I am sure, but will I have a better understanding of God’s plan and the reason for the Holocaust. Will I understand Paul’s words any better?  Despite all the suffering and evil of that place, will I also find, in some small corner, God’s grace there too.  I dearly hope so.

I’ll tell you when I return.

Amen

SERMON 9 - SUNDAY 10 JUNE 2012

SERMON 9 - SUNDAY 10 JUNE 2012 - All Saints' Parish Church, Farley

Genesis 3:8-15 & Mark 3:20-35

Some time ago, I heard the story, whether it is true or not I can’t now remember, of a young vicar who, having arrived at his new parish, let’s call it Great Snoring-on-the-Hill; put a sign up outside his church which read “This church welcomes all sinners”.  Shortly after that, the churchwardens were instructed by the PCC to write to the bishop to have the new incumbent removed.  The reason, the letter explained, was that such a sign suggested that anyone going to that church was a sinner and that the good reputation of the regular churchgoers in that upstanding community of Great Snoring would thereby be compromised – besides which, the sign might attract real sinners, which was  certainly not something they would wish to see happen.

This story, be it true or not, got me thinking about how many people don’t come to church because they think it is only for holy people who do not sin and are always pure in body, mind and soul?  - I certainly used to - or if they were found sinning, would be labelled “hypocrites” or “un-Christian”. For many years, let’s call them my “wilderness years” I thought like that.  I turned my back, not on God - I’ve never done that - but on the institution we call church because I thought it was a place where only the holiest of believers went.  I felt that unless I was completely pure, I would be struck down by lightening or something if I ventured upon holy ground.  I preferred to pray and read my bible, whenever I got around to it that is, in the privacy of my home.

In our readings today, we first of all heard of that first temptation which led Adam astray, to eat of the forbidden fruit after having been told by God, that he was not to do so.  It’s also the first occasion that the poor woman gets blamed for the man’s actions – but I’ll not go further there – except that I’ve used the excuse myself before now – usually when we are late for an event. 

That event in the Garden of Eden, known as The Fall, was the first of many occasions when the God of the Jews was let down by his chosen people and we read throughout the Old Testament of how prophet after prophet predicted the fall and exile of the Jewish nation and also of the countless occasions when God forgave them, entered into fresh covenants, and gave them another chance. Even the great anointed king, David, who committed murder and adultery, was ultimately forgiven and blessed with his son, Solomon who became a great and wise ruler.  Our whole faith is based, therefore, on repentance and forgiveness culminating in that great sacrifice upon the Cross.

As Christians, the forgiveness of our sins through the Cross is at the heart of our faith.  So what is Jesus saying, then, in St. Mark’s Gospel when he says “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin”?  Indeed, when in Matthew 18:21 Peter asks Jesus how many times should he forgive his brother, Jesus’s answer is “not seven times but seventy-seven times” meaning an infinite number.  Yet here in Mark (and this passage is parallelled in the other synoptic gospels, Matthew and Luke) he is saying that there is an unforgivable sin which cannot be forgiven – something which seems to attack the very heart of our faith – a faith based on Jesus’s own life and teachings of repentance and forgiveness.  It must truly be something awful.

I am a sinner!  I’ll readily admit that.  I doubt there is a day that goes by in which I don’t do something, very often in thought, which God disapproves of.  Earlier in the service we confessed our sins and asked for forgiveness truly believing that if we are genuinely repentant those sins will be forgiven.  So what is an “eternal unforgivable sin” and are we in danger of committing it and thereby cutting ourselves off from God’s salvation.

I remember having a discussion with a couple of Christian friends in Liverpool over a rather good Indian meal and beer.  We wondered whether God had a ranking system for sins so that if we took a pen home from work and didn’t return it that ranked much lower than if we committed murder; and a single crime of passion murder ranked lower than genocide.  Then one member of our group offered the view that any sin against the Ten Commandments merited the same ranking irrespective of its severity.  That had me worried that all the pens I had ever “borrowed” from work ranked alongside the genocide of the Second World War!

Let’s look again at what Jesus says in this and the parallel passages of the other gospels.  Numerous scholars down the years have theorised and debated what the unforgivable sin is that Jesus talks about. Christianity magazine’s resident theologian, Greg Downes puts forward five suggestions (and I have some copies of his article which appeared in this April’s edition for you to take away after the service):

First of all – is it a very serious sin?  If that is the case, then, as we have just seen, why were such biblical characters as Moses, Joshua, King David, and Elijah forgiven and given such prominence?  Indeed, Moses and Elijah were with Jesus at the transfiguration. They all committed murder or genocide in their time

Secondly – was it declaring God incarnate to be the devil incarnate? - for we read that the scribes, the learned ones – suggested that only the devil incarnate could cast out demons.  But Jesus answers this by saying that this is illogical as if a kingdom is divided against itself it will fall. It makes no sense therefore, because if Satan rises up against himself he will destroy himself. In itself it’s a stupid comment and not worthy of further comment.

Thirdly – was it rejecting the gospel? – the good news of Jesus Christ? - in circumstances where the gospel has been clearly heard but then rejected. Well, it has to be more than that because Jesus talks about blaspheming which implies speaking against the Holy Spirit - not simply rejecting Him.  Blasphemy comes from two Greek word – blapto – “to injure” and pheme “to speak”.  So a modern day word might be “slander”.

Fourthly, is it “backsliding” – a defection or turning away from the Christian Faith to some other Faith or no Faith at all?  That seems to have no logic either, because everybody has a right of repentance and we ourselves, ask for forgiveness every week, and very often we ask to be forgiven for the same or similar sins we’ve committed. I know I do.  Surely a loving God would not close a door to somebody who wanted to turn back to the Christian Faith.

The fifth and final suggestion is that it is the wilful slandering and rejection of the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit as it bears witness to Christ.

To look closely at this we need to understand the context in which Jesus’s words were spoken in Mark’s gospel.  We are told in one of the parallel gospels that a man possessed of demons was brought before Jesus to be delivered and Jesus performed his usual healing ministry.  It was after seeing this display that the crowd asked – could this be the son of David? – in other word were they asking if Jesus was the long awaited Messiah?

The Pharisees would have wanted to discredit this idea immediately and therefore suggested that only somebody with the devil in him could do this – in other words if he did have supernatural powers they did not come from God because they didn’t want them to come from God through this man.  It is only after these clear unequivocal accusations from the Pharisees that Jesus uses the strong term that such words are blasphemies against the Holy Spirit and therefore an unforgivable sin.

So where does that leave us poor sinners.  Can we, as Christians commit the unforgivable sin? 

Well, if we accept the fifth suggestion then the answer should be no!  Phew!  Because blaspheming against the Holy Spirit requires a failure to recognise Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God who gave his life to forgive our sins.  We cannot commit that unforgivable sin because by definition, a true Christian has received and not rejected Christ.

You see, it was not the sin itself that couldn’t be redeemed by Christ’s own redemptive work but the Pharisees hardening of their position and their emphatic rejection of Jesus’s status and ministry.

So, miserable sinners that we all are, accordingly to the Book of Common Prayer, as true Christians we cannot commit the unforgivable sin unless we consciously, maliciously and wilfully reject and slander the evidence of Christ’s ministry and our own conviction of the testimony of the Holy Spirit.

That doesn’t mean that we can sin in other ways with impunity, we are still answerable to God, but it does mean that we maintain a belief and a passage to God’s redemptive spirit. 

We therefore should applaud what that young vicar did – the church is indeed here to welcome ordinary sinners through its doors so that they may hear of God’s love and forgiveness and never be in a position to commit that unforgivable sin.

Amen

SERMON 8 - SUNDAY 27 MAY 2012

SERMON 8 - SUNDAY 27 MAY 2012 - Whaddon Roman Catholic Chapel

Ezekiel 36:22-28 & John 20:19-23

My wife often describes me as an “anorak” – one of those strange people with, in her mind at least, strange hobbies and interests – Chinese history, steam locomotives, ocean liners, trams and trolleybuses, and reading old maps and star charts astronomical ones (not astrological) to name but a few. 

An enquiring mind - which always wants to know more and more about ever more obscure subjects.  Yes, I can name the presidents of the United States, more or less in order of dates and tell you who won the 1976 FA Cup but I couldn’t tell you who is the front-runner in the current Apprentice!  In most cases, Sara simply lets me get on with it, feigning interest occasionally – and never complaining when I bring home that monthly bottle of wine for being a member of the winning pub trivia quiz team;  but I think her main concern is that, perhaps, I live too much in the past – yearning for those good old days which, perhaps, weren’t all that good after all.  As a friend of mine put it, recently, “nostalgia just isn’t what it used to be”!  Besides we don’t seem to have diphtheria and scurvy anymore.

Earlier this week, my yearning for the good old days nearly got me into trouble.  I was lucky enough to spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Champney’s Health Resort near Liphook – courtesy of a voucher given to me by my wife. 

Because of the glorious weather we’ve been having this week I decided to forsake the gym and sauna and go for a long walk in the woods.  I had brought with me an old Ordinance Survey map from the 1970s of the area.  Now I told you earlier that I have a passion for old steam railways and I knew that the film “The Great St. Trinian’s Train Robbery” had been filmed close by at the Longmoor Military Railway.  Seeing it marked on my map I strode off with my trekking poles and rucksack intent on finding the old railway and taking some photographs. 

After trudging some two to three miles through a heavily wooded and steep landscape, with my footsteps being accompanied by heavy machine gun and small arms fire, I eventually found myself, not by the railway line I had sought but by the busy A3 dual carriageway and close to a military firing range!  Had I been using a modern up-to-date OS map I probably wouldn’t have ventured off in that direction in the first place – although the views were magnificent and I didn’t step on any unexploded shells.

When I came to sit down and reflect upon today’s readings, the passage from Ezekiel reminded me of that aborted quest to find the long lost railway line.  A member of my House Group once said “I don’t do the Old Testament – I can’t accept a God who smites and seems to be grumpy all the time – I prefer the loving God of the New Testament – I can relate to Him”.  Her words came flooding back to me and I thought, perhaps there is something in that – like my old OS Map, perhaps, in looking for what there is for us today, we need to put aside and forget what went on before - that I shouldn’t ever preach on the Old Testament but concentrate on the Gospels and the writings of Paul and the Apostles.

 But, there again, when I looked at my old map, the contours, the physical geographical features are still there today – the rivers, the mountains and the basic infrastructures haven’t changed.  What has happened to the landscape is that some of the obsolete man made features have gone and new features have been written on the new map – new housing estates, new roads, a new Tesco’s supermarket – but the old is still recognisable – even the paths of “dismantled railways” are shown.   And when we read of the problems which faced the Jewish Nation in exile, then we can often draw many parallels with what we are facing in the world today.

Chapter 36 of Ezekiel, from which a short extract was read to us this evening, comes immediately before the famous story of Ezekiel being commanded by God to prophesy to the dry bones in the valley.  In a series of instructions, Ezekiel is being commanded by Yahweh, God, to prophesy to inanimate or dead objects which represent the state of the Jewish nation at this time – the time of the Exile.  Here, in our passage, Ezekiel is prophesying to the desolate mountains and land of Israel/Judah that God’s people are coming back after their period of exile in Babylon, that the land so barren and broken and corrupted will be renewed because the people will return, fully cleansed and full of the Holy Spirit so that they will obey the laws and do and act in ways which will glorify and please God.

You see, the Jewish people firmly believed that their state of exile and being cut off from their God was due to their disobedience of the law laid down by Moses in the Torah.  God was giving them another chance – just as we as parents have to forgive our children again and again - well at least I seem to have to with my teenage son – so God also forgives us again and again.

Let’s fast forward a moment to our second reading.  If we read John’s account of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples we can immediately see those parallels with Ezekiel’s prophesy.  Just as God promised the Jewish Nation through Ezekiel that he would breathe the Holy Spirit and forgive the Jewish nation by giving them another chance, so Jesus gives the Disciples the Holy Spirit to have God’s power to forgive others.

This was an incredibly powerful message to the disciples.  They would have been familiar with Old Testament law and prophesy – after all that was the only Scripture they had – the Old Testament.  They were writing the New Testament by being in it – being part of it!  Jesus repeatedly said “I have not come to break the law but to fulfil it!” Jesus must have spent an enormous amount of his early years reading and studying the Old Testament.  We know that he got lost in Jerusalem as a small boy because he wandered off to hear and read scripture in the Temple.

There was a craze at one time for WWJD wrist bands and pens – “WWJD” – “What would Jesus do”.  Many of those who wore those bands or used those pens often said things like “We need to get back to how the first Christians acted and worshipped”.  If we did so, we would find that much of the liturgy and structure of the church was based on the old Jewish rituals contained within the Old Testament because they were still worshipping the one and only true God, Yahweh.

I am afraid I cannot agree with my former House Group colleague.  We cannot chuck away the Old Testament just because we don’t like what happened or feel that it will confuse the modern day landscape and not fit in with what we feel is comfortable or familiar.

Neither, though, should we cling on to it and not embrace its meaning and foundation for us today. To understand Jesus’s ministry is to understand the prophesies and history contained in the Old Testament.  To understand the psyche of the Jewish people, and how Jesus’s ministry and teachings fit into the bigger picture. 

We are the fortunate ones – we have the new OS Map showing the new features – Christ’s ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, Pentecost and early church.  But to look at the new OS map alongside the old one is to see more clearly how the landscape has developed and why.  Not just accept what is there now but also help us to understand why and how it came into being.

I will keep my old map; but I will invest in a new one for when visit that area again.  Call me an anorak if you wish – I’ve been called worse in my time – but I invite you to delve into the Old Testament at frequent intervals and read the histories and prophesies – especially Isaiah, Ezekiel and Malachi.  They all have great stories to tell and they lead, from Creation through the doorway of the Cross towards the establishment of the Christian church and onwards to the New Creation.  They tell Jesus’s message in the context of the much bigger story.

Amen

SERMON 7 - SUNDAY 6 MAY 2012

SERMON 7 - SUNDAY 6 MAY 2012 - St. Mary's Parish Church, Alderbury

Part 1

Acts 8: 26-40

This for me is an absolutely astounding narrative leaving so many questions unanswered – a remarkable occurrence where Philip is told, divinely, to use a remote desert road to travel about 50 miles from Jerusalem, the capital of Judea to the coastal town of Gaza – now so much in the news.  We know from the TV footage that this area of the Middle East is rather un-hospitable today – how much more must it have been before the days of satellite navigation and mobile phones!  Philip doesn’t seem to question why he is to go there but it does indicate that the Good News of Christ’s life, crucifixion and resurrection had travelled well beyond Judea and Samaria to the coastal regions of Gaza , Caesarea and Azotus (Ashdod).

The story is presented to us as an extraordinary encounter on this remote, and presumably, dangerous road – an encounter in which God is the primary actor.  From the beginning to end of this whole narrative, Philip is prompted by divine impulse.  He moves at the behest of the angel of the Lord to make this journey, just in a similar manner to which Elijah and Ezekiel of the Old Testament had been instructed.

To set the story in its historical setting, the eunuch’s conversion illustrates the gospel’s power to reach even the remotest regions and include outsiders at that time.  Ethiopia’s remoteness and invincibility were legendary and if the term eunuch actually meant a male who had been physically castrated, then his status as an outsider is even more emphasised.  In all probability, it was more of a title indicating his position within the Queen’s household, (actually probably the Queen Mother)  but, nevertheless, his inclusion within the people of God  appears to fulfil the prophetic hope that foreigners and eunuch’s  would eventually participate fully in the worship of God.

Here, significantly we read that the eunuch, a foreigner, had previously been attracted to Israel and its temple as a place of worship and he is now attracted to its successor – “the good news of Jesus Christ”.  We are told that he is making his way home – back into Africa along this same road as Philip – after having been to the temple to worship Yahweh – the God of the Jewish people.  Whilst sitting in his carriage he is clearly struggling to understand the latest piece of scripture which he might have been directed to read or picked up whilst in Jerusalem.  I wonder, how many of us have empathy with that situation?  I know I do – every time we hold our weekly house group something new and fresh is revealed as well as discovering that pieces of scripture, so familiar, are upturned by a fresh interpretation!  Different commentaries and concordances sometimes only add to that confusion as we read more and more.

Our eunuch is reading Isaiah out aloud (a common practise in those days) – a piece which is quite familiar to us too.  What does it mean? He asks. Or more importantly, “Whom does it mean?” Before we even reach that point Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit asks the eunuch – “Do you understand what you are reading?”  What a great way to start up a conversation for bearing witness to the Good News.  Does that happen today?  Well yes it does.  Let me narrate a short story of my own –

A couple of years ago I was on my way to London by train for a business meeting.  I was reading a book by Steve Chalke called “Change Agents” – here it is, actually signed by the man himself at Spring Harvest -an excellent book and a quick and easy read explaining, as it does, some of the techniques that can be used within a Christian setting to help shape the world more in our Faith.  At Basingstoke a chap got onto the train and sat opposite me and started to read his own book.  Between Basingstoke and Woking we spoke hardly a word but he had obviously glimpsed mine for he suddenly asked me – “Do you know Steve Chalke then”?  I responded that I had met him a couple of times at Spring Harvest and had been doing some work for Stop the Traffik – one of Steve’s Oasis charities.  He then revealed that, ironically as it happens, that he was a Christian and had heard Steve speak and currently he was reading a commentary on Isaiah for his home group.  Needless to say we started chatting and in the end, as I finished my book by Clapham Junction, I lent it to him.  He subsequently sent it back to me with a lovely note saying how much he had been inspired by Steve’s book and would be putting much of what was written into practice – especially in his working life where he had been grappling with ethical problems which the book helped him to overcome.

Now I cannot say that I was guided by any clear divine impulse but this story does emphasise that we can best learn and understand scripture when we share our knowledge and proclaim the good news to others – and also when we are not afraid to admit, like the eunuch, that we don’t understand something and need it explaining more fully.

I often hear it said by people who know I am a Christian and a regular church-goer that they don’t understand why Christian’s have to go to church.  I even hear it said that “I am a good Christian but I never go to Church – I don’t need to”.  I would dare to say that such a statement is a contradiction.

Our eunuch clearly knew and appreciated the need to be a member of the church of Christ.  Having had the scripture explained to him by the apostle Philip, he is anxious to be baptised – to become a member of church.  His enthusiasm which he previously had for the God of the Jews has been extended to that for God’s Son and Holy Spirit.  A completeness of his faith;  a desire for membership and fellowship.  By membership and fellowship in a Christian community we can grow – and we grow by being able to ask those questions of life which bug us so much – which will test our faith, which stretch us. Being a Christian is not about being comfortable, boring and unquestioning.  The closer we are to God, the more we need the help and support of our fellow Christian journeyers.

This morning, I want to illustrate that need for sharing our faith and questioning our own knowledge of scripture by inviting you to think about a bible passage which might be quite well known to you but which you might not really have ever understood or have recently struggled with.  You should have received a piece of paper and a pen as you entered this morning and we’ll use those as an ancient form of texting!  Scribble down your question and then place it in this basket whilst Jenny plays us some reflective music for a few minutes.   If you can’t think of anything quickly now perhaps reflect upon it later at home and then email it to me or one of the clergy team for a response.  After the second reading and my short homily on it, we’ll then take a few of your contributions anonymously and Nils has offered to join in to see if we can give some answers.  Also, if any of you have any answer or thoughts you want to share please do not hesitate to contribute to the discussion.

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 Part 2

John 15:1-8

In the Old Testament, mention of the vine was often used as a symbol for Israel especially when trying to indicate a certain lacking of faithfulness.  Jesus’s reference to the true vine is appropriate therefore because he is telling his disciples that he is the very essence of that network which will uphold and sustain a faithfulness towards God.

Now I am no gardener, indeed having been brought up in towns and cities by the sea for most of my life, I really am not all that close to the earth at all – confining my gardening to mowing lawns and hacking back the jungle which frequently seems to appear in my back garden – but even I have noticed that when I cut back the grape vine which proliferates at the side of our house, it bears more grapes than when I leave it alone – and yes I have frequently left it alone.  My wife has said that someday we might find some lost civilisation in the undergrowth.  The disciples at the time of Jesus would therefore have understood this much better than I do as the need to produce grapes and figs in such arid conditions was indeed very important and poor viticulture could be disastrous.

So what exactly is Jesus saying?  Well, my understanding of this passage after reflection is that unless we remain solidly connected to the plant itself, Jesus in this case, and are nurtured by the Holy Spirit we will whither and die at Judgement because we are no longer able to bear fruit.  Jesus wants his disciples (us today) to blossom and bear fruit.  We can so easily stagnate in our faith because we do not allow ourselves to grow.  We hear the word but we do not listen; we hear the word but we do not try to understand; and sometimes, I’m afraid, we don’t even hear it at all because we are engaged in our own distractions.

We can’t go it alone either.  We must be connected to the vine – each of us by being so connected is connected to each other.  We receive our spiritual nourishment from the same source – an inexhaustible source for all - but to grow we must feed ourselves and each other through the Holy Spirit.

Now let’s have a look at some of the biblical questions which you have given me.

SERMONS 5 & 6 – SUNDAY 22 APRIL

SERMONS 5 & 6 – SUNDAY 22 APRIL - St. John's Church Winterslow / St. Mary's Parish Church, West Dean (A Shorter Version of this was delivered as Sermon 5 at St. John's)

Luke 24:36-48; Acts 3:[1]-19

Those of you who study the Church of England’s liturgical calendar, the lectionary, will have spotted that today’s readings were somewhat different to what was printed – the Gospel reading came first, instead of second and the reading from Acts 3 started at verse 1 and not, as prescribed, verse 12.  If you didn’t spot it, then don’t worry, hopefully it made perfect sense to you when it was read out.

When I sat down to prepare this sermon, I started by reading and reflecting upon the first of the passages prescribed from the Common Lectionary, the Acts reading, which, at verse 12 starts – “Peter addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this or why do you stare at us…’”  My immediate reaction, was, what on earth is going on here?  Wondering at what?  What was there to stare at? Peter certainly seems to have gone off on one!  It was only by going to my fuller bible and reading and trying to understand what had gone on immediately before, that complete sense could be made of the circumstances surrounding Peter’s seeming outburst – not that Peter was unaccustomed to such behaviour.  But I’ll come back to the Acts passage later as even more sense can be made when one reads Luke’s Gospel a take the two readings chronologically.

The fact that these two passages have been linked in the lectionary is no co-incidence. They follow logically.  The apostle Luke is acknowledged to be the writer of both the gospel which bears his name and the Acts of the Apostles and both of these readings were probably written very closely together and clearly have a significant link. 

Last week we heard John’s gospel in which Thomas, not having been present at Christ’s first appearance to the disciples, needed clear factual evidence to support the news that Jesus had indeed risen. “I will not believe it unless I see the scars and put my hand in his side”  A man whose emotions were led by his head – logical thought.  According to Paul in 1 Corinthians [15:6], Jesus appeared to about 500 people at the same time yet it must still have been a enormous test of their faith – having seen their leader, their rabbi murdered on the Cross.

Our gospel reading, itself, immediately follows the revelation of Christ to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  We read that the disciples were in turmoil, their leader had been cruelly executed, his body disappearing from its grave and hearing strange unbelievable stories of him having been seen around town and in the country.  The disciples from Emmaus, in particular were enthusiastic with their news and were probably greeted by their colleagues with cries of “O yeah!  Pull the other one!”  When Jesus appeared, clearly they must have believed it was a ghost that they were seeing as Christ, having supernatural powers of walking through locked doors, has suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in front of them. Jesus asks  “Why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts?”  He might even have said “You look as if you’ve just seen a ghost”.  In a symbolic act to prove that he is indeed flesh and blood he shows them his hands and feet and asks them for food to eat.  A ghost doesn’t eat food.

I am always amazed, that despite all the miracles which were observed over the three years or so of Christ’s ministry, and all the teachings and discussions that took place over that time, Peter and his colleagues took so long to “get it”.  But, on this occasion, they finally did as Jesus, in the same way he did with the two on the road to Emmaus, painstakingly goes through scripture, the Old Testament, and points out to them the various prophecies which talk about his death and resurrection.  But the most important thing he says to them is that they are “witnesses” of these things.  They have been chosen to be a part of the big story set out in scripture. 

Luke ends the narrative (which again is not included in our reading) by saying that he wants the disciples to go out with power from God (the Holy Spirit) to witness to all that has happened.

Today, the evangelicals, both within our own church and the more charismatic churches, use the term “witness” to mean mission and it is clear that Jesus has plans for the eleven (soon to be made up to twelve again) after Pentecost to be witnesses, missionaries, in the Father’s name. Having witnessed, the living resurrected Jesus, and after having received the Holy Spirit, they will be able to speak with authority and power.  Quite a transforming meeting!  From doubting to clear empowerment.  If only some of our church meetings were so transforming!

It is therefore with the benefit of understanding this that we turn back to the reading from Luke. 

In a similar manner to Jesus demonstrating his resurrection as a man (albeit with super powers) by eating broiled fish [fish always seem to feature in my sermons for some reason!] so the newly empowered apostles, Peter and John, demonstrate their witness or mission by healing a cripple at the Temple Gate in Jerusalem.  An act which echoes back to Christ’s own ministry when he healed the blind man on the Sabbath and drew a large crowd of Pharisees and officials. It certainly seems to have had a similar effect with a crowd of Israelites.  Peter has a huge audience.  What a great opportunity for mission.  

Amusingly, Peter then asks the crowd the same sort of question which Jesus asked the eleven in the locked room – “Why does this take you completely by surprise” as it is put in The Message.  Why the wonder? Why the staring?  Peter more than anyone else should understand their position! Peter then, after berating the crowd for having allowed Jesus to be put to death by the Romans, (not sure Peter still does get it as the death and resurrection, he has been told, was all part of God’s big story) repeats what Jesus had said to the disciples by explaining the ministry of Jesus in the context of the Old Testament.  Wow, what a turn round – from wonder and disbelief on the part of Peter and his colleagues to a strong unequivocal testimony of faith – all in a few weeks.

Well this is all very interesting, you say, but where does that place us today? 

I don’t know how many of you use social networking sites – I do.  Although they can be time wasters they can also be extremely good and simple ways to communicate news and views.  However there are quite a lot of games and quizzes on Facebook and in an idle moment – and I don’t get many of those these days - I decided to fill in a questionnaire entitled “Which Biblical Character are you most like?”  Just a bit of fun you realise, of course!  As I filled it out I wondered whether I would turn out to be King Herod, Pilate, David, Elisha, or perhaps the talking donkey!  The result for a moment surprised me yet then it didn’t surprise me – it was Peter!  And yes I can identify with him – frequently getting it wrong, jumping in with both feet, saying the wrong thing at the right time or the right thing at the wrong time.  And he also came from a family of fishermen too! 

These passages today, remind me that we can all be like Peter.  We can doubt, we can deny, we can try and hide, we can ignore, we can try and rationalise, we can be impulsive, we can be indolent – Peter was all of these things at one time or another – yet he became the rock upon which Christ’s church was built. Today, as members of his church, we continue to be Christ’s rock – his living stones.

As Jesus’s living disciples we are required to witness – to go out and do his mission.  The Holy Spirit is around and in us.  Those of us who have made a commitment to Jesus, although we have not been in a room where he has physically appeared, have been given access to the most powerful thing on earth – the Holy Spirit which in turn has given us different gifts.  It may not be the gift of healing, as in the Acts passage, it may not be the gift of prophecy, it may not be the gift of teaching, it may not be readily discernible to us but each and every one of us has been given a gift by God to witness to his love in giving us his Son to die on the Cross and resurrected, and to be a light to the world.

Recently I heard a wonderful phrase – that we should let God’s light shine through us like a light in a cracked pot  No, let me emphasise, not as crackpots but as cracked pots.  Full of flaws and imperfections but still able to shine as true witnesses to God’s light.  Jesus gave this responsibility to those first disciples in the locked room.  He gives it to us now, here, today.

Amen

 

SERMON 4 - SUNDAY 11 MARCH 2012

SERMON 4 -  SUNDAY 11 MARCH 2012 - St. Mary's Hall, Whaddon

Exodus 5.1-6.1; Matthew 10:4b-14

What sort of a day have you had today?  I guess a good one as it is Sunday, the Sun is shining, Southampton won their match yesterday and you have so been looking forward all week to coming to church this evening haven’t you?!  Okay you don’t need to answer that one!  So, what sort of a week have you had?  Have all your days been great?  Fulfilling?  Enjoyable?  Or, like me, have you had some pretty frustrating and stress filled ones too!  Days when you can’t get on with things because other less important ones – to you that is – seem to take priority – or you get those annoying phone calls asking you to claim against insurance policies you never had or wanting to sell you double glazing which you already have! I can tell you I am tempted to say quite a few un-Christian words to those people!  Perhaps a day or a period when you haven’t done something you should have done for fear of getting it wrong or making a mess of it, or not speaking for it or against it – sometimes that’s me also!

Well, having a faith, being a Christian is never easy.  As I have begun my training - I’ve found that out!  Sometimes the more you delve into scripture and theological theory and reflection, the harder it all becomes and the more confused you get.  One commentator will say this about a piece of scripture, another says that.  Having just completed a module on interpreting scripture, I can tell you, there is so much more we don’t know than we think we do.

I am reminded of a young enthusiastic trainee preacher who had only recently become a Christian.  He thought he had got it all worked out – “simples” as the Meerkats would say. His first sermon went something like this – three points he wanted to make –

1.    If you are a Christian you don’t have problems but

2.    If you are a Christian and have a problem, pray about it and it will go away but

3.    If you are Christian, you pray about it and it doesn’t go away, then perhaps you’re not really a Christian which is then a bigger problem than you had to start with!

No!  Completely wrong.  Many years later, that young guy is one of the most respected preachers and authors around having written and sold umpteen theological books.  He has had plenty of problems in his personal life, including chronic depression, but speaking to him today he will tell you that he looks back on that first sermon with horror and realises that far from solving problems - being a Christian creates more problems than he might otherwise have had – but his relationship with Jesus and his general faith keeps him going and he feels safe in knowledge that God is there to protect him and guide him through the bad patches.

The bible is littered with people struggling with their faith as they go through the bad times – from Genesis to Revelation.  Job is a classic story.

In our first reading, we are back in Egypt with the Israelite slaves.  They have been set construction tasks by the Pharaoh who has cleverly put Israelite overseers in charge of their own people.  A device which has been used by countless tyrants over the centuries.  The overseers’ privileged position will be in jeopardy if they collaborate with the masses in revolution – and this is precisely what is happening here.  Moses and Aaron plan to get the Jewish people a three day religious holiday so that they can go into the wilderness to spend time with God – Yahweh.  Going into the wilderness was not, what we might think it is now, a bad thing – no, back then the wilderness was where they thought God resided and going out there was to be close to Him.  However, Moses and Aaron have a simple cunning plan – not to come back!  Pharaoh probably had wind of this and for this reason he chose to punish the people by making them undertake the same task – building bricks - but asking them to collect their own raw material – straw.  This has the effect of them taking much longer to complete the task or having to work doubly hard to complete in the time allotted.

I can’t say I’ve ever seen any straw in the walls of my brick built house - but - I did a bit of research and – I was intrigued by this, which also reminded me of the idiom – “you can’t make bricks without straw”

Many clay products require the addition of other materials to add strength and durability. In the case of bricks in OT Egypt -- river clay is usually composed of very fine particles and so would dry slowly. Adding straw would "open up" the clay, allowing it to dry more readily and so be more promptly and successfully fired. Adobe bricks used around the world are generally only sun dried but grasses, straw and other materials are added to the clay for the same basic reasons.

Pharaoh’s decree, probably predictably, had the effect of turning the overseers/foremen against Moses and Aaron who were told, in no uncertain terms:

May the LORD look upon you and judge you!  You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.

Moses, then himself wondering what had been achieved by all this, asks God why all this trouble? to which he receives the answer – Because of the nuisance they are making, God will himself make Pharaoh drive the Israelites out of Egypt.  And as we know, plagues and pestilence were released on the Egyptians.

Later, in our second reading we read that Jesus, sending out the missionary twelve, warns them that he is sending them out like sheep in the midst of wolves.  They will be persecuted and reviled because of their faith and speaking out in faith.  He says “do not worry about speaking or what to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at the right time”.

Moses suffered from a speech impediment and couldn’t quite understand why he had been chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  Clearly his speeches of persuasion to Pharaoh didn’t work on their own and it required the plagues from God to speak louder. 

During Lent, quite a few groups are studying the book “Finding a Voice” by Hilary Brand which uses that highly acclaimed film, The King’s Speech, to explore the ways in which fear holds us back and examines how we, like Bertie, can face and overcome our fears and begin to find our authentic voice.  It’s a great message. 

As we reflect on our own journey of faith, this Lent, let’s ask ourselves what challenges are facing us as Christians now – what fears do we need to overcome, what tasks seem too great for us, what bricks are we being asked to make without straw? 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.  I would add to that – it is also fear of ourselves and our own inadequacies.  On reflection, perhaps that’s the same thing.

In life we will meet bad days, days when everybody and everything seems to go against us.  The psalmist knew those days well – his songs are littered with them.  But as Christians, we should remember that everything is for a purpose – just as explained to Moses and Aaron.  Often days are bad because we don’t speak up – we allow things to get on top of us because we don’t say “stop – enough” or “no”.  We take the line of least resistance just as the overseers wanted to do. Not upset the status quo – however bad that was for the people.

But the answer is there.  Find our voice, trust in the Lord’s plan for us, overcome our fears.

Simples! 

Amen

SERMON 3 – SUNDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2012

SERMON 3 – SUNDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2012 - St. John's Church, West Grimstead

Colossians 1:15-20 and John 1:1-14

Wow, what a fantastic piece of writing opens John’s Gospel –  what powerful words, words which are probably nearly as familiar to most Christians as is the Lord’s prayer itself.  “In the beginning…” not “Once upon a time” or “Many years ago” as writers of narrative often use - but right at the beginning of time.  A statement of absolute faith contained in those first three words of John’s Gospel.  Nothing existed before God.  John is clearly echoing the opening of Genesis, the first book of the Torah which would have been as well known to the Jews of the day as our liturgy is to us today (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”).  Just think about it for a moment – there was nothing before the beginning – just chaos and a void – so when John talks about the beginning he is saying, in clear words understood by his readers or listeners -  that this Jesus, born in Bethlehem, crucified and resurrected in Jerusalem, the Son of God was with God at the beginning of time – always - what a mind blowing concept for those early followers. This Jesus, recently on Earth in the living memory of John, was God incarnate not simply another prophet or holy man.

When I set about writing this sermon my thoughts strayed to how I could bring this concept alive and fresh to people who have already openly professed their faith in Christ – for that is what we as Christians have declared. In other words, this should be old hat to those who are already following Christ. Then I was reminded of my time in local and national politics when, following the fall of Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady, the Conservative Party seemed to lose its way and the revived concept of consensus politics started to divide those in power. Different views on how policies should be carried forward, or not carried forward at all, brought crisis after crisis to the new Thatcherless Government. The new Prime Minister, John Major, then hit upon the notion of a campaign – do you remember what it was? - he called it “Back to Basics” which, I have to readily admit, didn’t do all it was meant to do and was often used against those trying to advocate it; but as a concept it is not a bad one and I think, when we read John 1 it is, in a way, leading us Christians back to just that, to take a long hard look at the basics of our Faith.

Paul in his letter to the Colossians, which we had read earlier, I think is doing just that - getting back to basics with the faithful in Colossae, a small city about 100 miles from Ephesus in what is now Turkey.  In the reading we had, he reminds us that Jesus is the image of the unseen God – that he is above all things and in him all things are held together – the firstborn of all creation. Paul says : He is the head of the body; the church; he is the beginning –  see here is another reference – the firstborn from the dead so that he might come to have first place in everything.

So! - where do we place Jesus in our daily lives today?  If we were to make a list of our priorities, Church, Family, Work, Sport, Home, where do we put him?  At the top, the beginning of our list, or do we do as I’ve heard one Christian say – “When I get to work I leave God/Jesus in the car, go into the office, do my work, and then pick him up again when I leave”.  Well it might surprise you to hear me say, no, we shouldn’t put Him on the top, at the beginning of our secular list, but in the centre of our lives !  He wants to be beside us in all you do, not simply adored and venerated and prayed to at those set times of the day or week – at church or before bed or when you wake up – important as they might be – but with us at our places of work, in the pub, at the football match, in the kitchen, in the garden, in the car, in fact everywhere and at all times.  We should not put him in a box to be taken out and then put away again when we have finished.

I have to confess, that I do sometimes put Christ lower down the list than I should – often at times when things seem to be going okay or when I feel  I am too busy getting on with the tasks of daily life – too busy to stop and talk to Him.  Sometimes, in fact, I think that I don’t need Him at all.  Yes, I can handle this, I tell myself.  The fact is, God is always there for us – he is there just for the asking.  I am often a bit similar to the man (in fact I am the man) who doesn’t like to ask for directions, even when lost, and ends up going round and round it circles. Can you identify with that?  Drives my wife mad!  Why don’t you ask that person over there? she says. We all, sometimes, also suffer from what aviators call “go-on-itus” – we struggle on alone getting ourselves into deeper trouble or, and this can sometimes be worse still, doing nothing; being paralysed by the fear of the unknown.

During his earthly life, Jesus made no small effort to get alongside ordinary folk – to be there for them.  We read in all the gospels how he dined with tax collectors and people who were outcast by the society in which they lived; he got alongside them speaking to them in their own language and in a way they could understand often in parable, guiding them and healing them. 

God was later described by John in Revelation (22.13) as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end and we acknowledge this in our Pascal Candle which will be lit once more at Easter.  Yes, Christ was there at the beginning, but He will remain with us until the very end; and He is with us now.  All we have to do is reach out for Him.

In a moment we shall say the Creed and later be in Communion with him at the altar rail.  When we leave the Church today, let’s not leave Him behind like my Christian friend did in the office car park.  Let’s take Him with us.  He will be there waiting anyway.   Let’s get back to basics, let’s remember those familiar words, let’s make Christ both the beginning and the end of our life’s priority list by putting him at the centre.

Amen

MFB/11022012