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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Amen                                                                                                  MFB/10062023/187

SERMON 186 - SUNDAY 23 APRIL 2023

SERMON AT ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH WINTERSLOW – SUNDAY 23^rd APRIL 2023 – 

THIRD SUNDAY IN EASTER

ACTS 2:14a, 36-41; 1 PETER 1:17-23; LUKE 24:13-35

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

What a rich tapestry is woven by these three readings this morning and for the preacher it is difficult to know where to begin and where to end for they all have very important messages for us as a church today when we face so many challenges, spiritually and culturally in this modern day and age.

Bishop Stephen, announced during his sermon at Maundy Thursday’s Chrism Service in the cathedral, that the Diocese of Salisbury was adopting a new strapline “Making Jesus Known” emphasising that it is the duty of every Christian, whether in authorised ministry or not, to spread the Good News or Gospel, of salvation through Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection on the Cross. Alleluia, how wonderful is that!

In discussions I have with people about religion, Christians as well as non-Christians, we seem to place an emphasis in those discussions on the Church as an Institution with its customs and rituals and on God, as a remote being looking down on us and judging us.  We often seem afraid of talking about Jesus or the Holy Spirit thinking, often in the Church of England, that these are reserved for the more Evangelical or Charismatic churches.  There is a real danger, I think, that it placing God remotely and through our customs and rituals, we lose sight of the fact that our God is a living entity, that he came down to Earth in the form of Jesus and that he left the Holy Spirit for us, to guide us and keep us faithful to our beliefs. Each of today’s readings is about learning and understanding who Jesus was and is and gives us a great insight into how we, as today’s disciples can truly “make Jesus known”.

The Book of Acts, our first reading, was written we believe by the same author as the Gospel of Luke which is our Gospel reading today.  We learn from our first reading how Peter, after Christ’s Ascension and on the day of Pentecost, addresses a crowd of Jews and tells them that there can be know doubt that Jesus was the long-awaited Lord and Messiah – God’s chosen one. They were “cut to the heart” a lovely expression to convey the experience of hearing Peter’s words as a true revelation of God’s will and calling to them all. “What should we do”? they ask, to which Peter responds that they should repent, “metanoia” in Greek, turn away from the corruptness of the then present generation. If you do this, he continues, you will receive the free gift of the Holy Spirit.

I could help but see many parallels with our own modern world which seems to be ever more corrupt and turning away from God and the teachings of Jesus.  Earlier this week in a meeting which I had with my own spiritual director I bemoaned the fact that every day the news seems to be full of stories of crimes, corruption, falseness; that many of the institutions and professions which we have loved and cherished over the decades and centuries now seem to be soiled with stories of corruption and greed and self-interest.  She asked me whom I thought now carried our nation’s moral compass and I had to admit that I thought “no one”.  No one at all. What do you think. The next question of course is who should be our moral compass?  The answer is I believe the living God, Jesus through the Holy Spirit and we can only make that happen by being good disciples ourselves, just as Peter increased the number of followers by three thousand on that single day.

In our second reading, in a letter which the same Peter wrote to the Christian diaspora spread out over many countries, once again implores those followers not to put their trust in silver and gold, in other words money or material things were not the things which ransomed them from their past ways, but in the blood of Jesus shed for them on the Cross. That as saved individuals, those who have repented and received salvation, they have received the love of God and likewise should show that same love to each other. By doing this they too will “make Jesus known” to others as well as reinforcing that knowledge for each other. They have been re-born in the Spirit.

Our third reading, our Gospel reading is one which is so well known and has been the subject of a number of books including one written by a former Bishop of Salisbury as well as the evangelical writer Pete Greig.  It is a passage well worth reading over again and again and one which is very good for Ignatian lectio divina contemplative study exercises.

Here we see an actual example of Jesus being made known.  Without repeating the story in two much detail we find two disciples of Jesus (Cleopas and we assume his wife) getting out of Jerusalem on their way back home to Emmaus a village about seven miles outside of the capital. They have just spent the last few days in Jerusalem, presumably for the feast of Passover and there witnessed the events surrounding the Passion. They are much confused with talks of Christ resurrected having witnessed his trial and execution.  They also bemoan the fact that they, like others, hoped that he was the Messiah who would free them from Roman occupation and tyranny but now all those hopes seem dashed. They are discussing all this as they plod along the road to Emmaus when suddenly a stranger catches up with them from the same direction as they are travelling and joins them asking what they are talking about. They explain the events of the last few days in Jerusalem expressing great surprise that the stranger, although clearly coming from Jerusalem himself, doesn’t appear to know what has been happening in that city and especially their disappointment that Jesus didn’t free them from Roman rule.

The stranger rebukes them for this simplistic view of what Jesus was all about and his purpose in Israel.  He appears to them to be a very learned theologian and spends the rest of the trip back to Emmaus giving them bible lessons by going through all the history and prophecies of the Old Testament and pointing out to them that all these prophesises were pointing to the coming of Jesus and his purpose.  It must have been an amazing sermon and I do wonder what Cleopas and his wife must have thought about being preached to on their journey home. Interestingly, the stranger never disclosed his identity during this monologue as they walked along together; but clearly Cleopas and companion were so enthralled that they invited the stranger in to their home for supper after he appeared intent on continuing the journey on his own. “They urged him strongly” we are told to stay with them for a meal.

Now we come to one of the most interesting aspects of this whole account. As he sits down with them, the stranger has still not revealed his identity to them in conversation and although Cleopas and companion must have seen Jesus on several occasions – they indicated during their talk that they had been with the other disciples when the women returned from the empty tomb – they did not recognise him.  He must have looked so different and sounded so different despite them being in close proximity to him before and also on this journey to Emmaus during which he appears to have dominated the conversation.  How did they not know him?  Likewise, you will recall that Mary when talking to “the gardener” after discovering the empty tomb did not recognise him either.

It was not until the stranger took the bread, broke it and blessed it did the two hosts recognise the stranger to be Jesus!  There was obviously something unique and special in the manner in which he did this that made him immediately recognisable – perhaps a certain bodily mannerism or inflection in his voice. We are not told and can only imagine. Interestingly, the moment they recognised him, he vanished. You will also recall how Jesus would suddenly appear and disappear before the eleven remaining apostles. Such was their reaction that they immediately returned the seven miles to Jerusalem where they were told that Jesus had similarly appeared to Simon Peter and all the disciples were then convinced of Jesus’s resurrection.

The questions which we need to ask ourselves today are “Does Jesus still reveal himself to his followers?” If so, how do we know when a stranger such as the one met on the road to Emmaus is indeed Jesus?

Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata) took the view that each and every one of us carries Jesus within us and Jesus himself said that whatever you do to anyone you do it for me, when questioned by his disciples. The exact quote from Matthew 25 is "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

The Reverend Steve Chalke, a Baptist minister in London was once asked how he dealt with difficult homeless people arriving at his church demanding food and shelter and appearing ungrateful and uncouth.  His answer was that “I look them straight in the eyes and there I see the eyes of Jesus looking back at me however rude or abusive their behaviour”.

Like Cleopas and his probable wife, the two followers of Jesus on the road to Emmaus, who thought that they did know Jesus before, found that during the two hours or so of that journey they learned much of him and from him –but they still did not actually know him until after they asked him to enter their home and gave him hospitality, even though he still appeared to them to be a stranger.

Are we prepared to know Jesus, to let him come fully into our lives? Are we prepared to treat him not as a remote individual who lives in the pages of our bibles – but acknowledge him to be alive today and anxious to have a fully relationship with him?  And finally, if yes to both of these questions, are we prepared to take time out to make Jesus known to others?

 

Amen                                                                                                              MFB/21042023/186

SERMON 185 - SUNDAY 12 MARCH 2023 - LENT 3

SERMON AT ST. JOHN’S CHURCH WEST GRIMSTEAD AND ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH, FARLEY – SUNDAY 12^th MARCH 2023 – THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

EXODUS 17:1-7; ROMANS 5:1-11; JOHN 4:5-42

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

Let me start off with a question to you.  What do each of the three readings we have heard from scripture this morning have in common? The answer, apart from the first and last being concerned with thirst and the provision of water, is that each of them talks about the need to have Faith in circumstances of difficulty and oppression.  Each of them has such an enormous amount of material to impart to us that it is almost impossible, in fact it is impossible, to restrict the lessons they have for us to one single sermon or talk unless you have three of four hours to spare this morning!  Unfortunately for me, and fortunately for you, I need to be somewhere else quite quickly after this service ends this morning otherwise I might have been tempted to talk for a good deal longer than normal.

So let’s look at each reading from the point of view of the testing of Faith.  In our first reading we learn that the Israelites, having come through so much adversity since leaving Egypt, now find themselves in a situation where some of them, the majority in fact, are totally fed up of wandering, it appears, aimlessly in the dry desert and thirsty for water.  To them their freedom has come at a great price and they are beginning to wonder why they left and are beginning to long for a return to captivity in Egypt where, they argue, they at least had food and drink even if they were oppressed by their Egyptian masters. They have lost their faith in Moses, and thereby in their Lord God, questioning why they have been put through all the deprivations they have suffered.  For what?  As Moses realises, they are testing him and their God and he is fearful for his own life. I have often pondered about what Moses was really thinking at this time.  Was he tempted to go along with the crowd and question God and his plan?  Or was his faith so strong that he never doubted that God’s will would prevail?  His response to the protests of the people was itself a test of faith for he asked God directly what should he do?  In doing so he was given a solution – a miracle of water gushing from rock – but his own faith had been tested too.

The lesson for us here is – do we follow the crowd at times when our beliefs are challenged? Do we compromise on what we actually believe to be right?  I am sure that if Moses had faltered in his belief and subsequent appeal to God then the Israelites would have collapsed into a heap of chaos with many dying or returning to captivity.  As we are seeing in Ukraine today, it is the belief in justice and what is right that keeps that country in its fight against oppression and occupation. It is often easier to capitulate than persevere but the price of capitulation can be a very heavy one.  Jesus never told us that following him would be easy, in fact he often preached the contrary, but the rewards are far greater for us in the long run than compromising on our Faith.

Paul continues this theme in his great letter to the Romans. In one of the greatest pillars of Christian doctrine he exhorts his followers, the readers of his letter and us today, to recognise that our salvation is through our Faith alone – our belief in Jesus and through him to peace with God.  I have often found this passage of particular help to when I have been going through rough times or times when I do not feel particular pious or devotional.  Paul talks to us about suffering leading to endurance and endurance producing character and character leading to hope and hope not being something which will disappoint us because it is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  Faith, Hope and Charity/Love are the three fundamental characteristics of Paul’s teaching of Christianity with one leading to the other. If we have Faith then we can have Hope and with Hope we can express Love (agape) to our fellow humans. 

When I was younger I always thought that salvation was through what we did – with God up in the clouds keeping a balance sheet of our good deeds and our bad.  I felt pretty helpless as I was always sure that my own personal balance sheet would be in the red – more bad things, and especially thoughts, than good things – envy, greed, telling fibs, naughty thoughts etc. etc. and not reading my bible or attending church as often as I should. Paul’s words give us all hope.  By a genuine faith and acceptance of Jesus as our Saviour we can indeed be saved.  However, that does not mean that we shouldn’t also do good works too. St. James puts it succinctly in his epistle that whilst we are saved by Faith we should show that Faith by the way we act in our lives towards others.

In our gospel reading, a piece of scripture which, for me could be the topic of a huge essay or sermon I can only skim the surface of the message it carries – a message which I think has enormous significance in the world we live in today.

The story, I am sure is well known to you all but I do recommend you read it again later today or at some time when you have a moment of peace and quiet.  There is so much symbolism and important points to note.  Setting the scene briefly, Jesus and his disciple, Jews, are travelling through Samaria, through the countryside of a people despised by the Jewish people.  I will not go into the long history of why, some of which was probably lost in the passing of time – a bit like why Southampton FC supporters despise those of Portsmouth FC and vice versa. Needless to say this does appear to have been a deliberate act on the part of Jesus to cross over the border.  It is the hottest part of the day and a single woman has come to the same well as Jesus to draw water.  The reason we discover for her coming at this time is because she too, although a Samaritan herself, is despised by her peers because she has been married five times and is currently living with another man out of wedlock.

Immediately I spotted that here we have two outcasts, Jesus a Jew in Samaritan country and a Samaritan woman, an outcast from her own people.  They both have something in common and both are seeking to quench their physical thirst. And so proceeds one of the longest exchanges of conversation between Jesus and another in the whole of the bible and it is between Jew and Gentile.

Jesus reveals to the woman much about herself which she is amazed he could know and realises that here is indeed someone special.  He offers her the gift of the water of eternal life if she truly believes that he is the Messiah – one of the earliest occasions on which Jesus reveals his true identity.

The disciples, when they catch up with Jesus express amazement that Jesus is speaking to a Samaritan and a woman at that. The woman leaves and goes back to her village proclaiming that she has met the Messiah, the Chosen one which leads to the conversion of many of the Samaritans becoming followers of Jesus.

So what do we make of this?  Well, for me, this once again amounts to a testimony that Jesus came for all, not just for the Jews but also the Gentiles.  Not only this, but that he is also here for the sinner and the outcast.  Throughout the New Testament and in many different gospel accounts this is a message which is preached loud and clear “I have come for the sick not for the healthy.  The latter have no need of a physician” to paraphrase Mark 2:7.

Sometimes we can forget this.  The reason we have a time of confession and penitence in all our church services is because we are not Jesus, we are not perfect but at times can be unhealthy in our thoughts and actions. However, because of our Faith, just like Moses and the woman at the well, we can be healed because we have already received the gift of salvation through that faith.  Faith, I hasten to add, is not mere belief.  We can believe in the devil too but having Faith goes above and beyond mere belief.

We learn from each of the readings today that God through Jesus loves us all and is there for all of us – and especially those who turn from their unbelief to a strong belief. There are so many other examples in the bible – Levi, Zacchaeus, the criminal on the Cross, and of course Paul.  We who have Faith are so lucky and we should forever give thanks and praise for the gift of Jesus coming to Earth, dying, being resurrected and leaving the Holy Spirit with us until he returns in glory.

So, finally a thought or question for each of you. What can you do to welcome or tell a stranger about the love of God for them – be it by word or by an action or inclusivity this wejust as Jesus engaged with the foreign woman at the well?

 

Amen                                                                                                  MFB/09032023/185

SERMON 184 - WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2023 - ASH WEDNESDAY

SERMON AT ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH, FARLEY – WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2023 – ASH WEDNESDAY

JOEL 2:1-2, 12-17; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:20b-6:10; Maathew 6:1-6, 16-21

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

And so, today, begins that long period in the Christian calendar called Lent representing the forty days and forty night’s which Jesus spent in the wilderness before he began his ministry – forty days and forty nights ending in being tempted by the devil.

Very often Lent has been synonymous with giving something up – alcohol, chocolate, cigarettes, cakes etc. – in other words something pleasurable to us and our bodies.  Indeed, only last week when reminding somebody that I was preaching at this service and that Ash Wednesday was the beginning of Lent I was immediately asked as to what I was giving up. I thought for a moment and realised that I hadn’t actually given it much thought and after all the deprivations of lockdowns during Covid came to the conclusion that rather than giving things up I would rather use the time of Lent for some more positive reflection on the creative wonders of God’s world and universe through increased meditation, scriptural reading, walking amongst God’s beautiful countryside and, of course, viewing the wonders of the night sky.  All of these things I can do quietly on my own whilst still eating my chocolate bar too if I so wish.

In our Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus talks direct to his disciples warning them of showing off their piety in front of others in order to be seen by those others rather than true worship and reflection on God himself.  Jesus extols his disciples to give alms, pray and give praise to God quietly and not simply to show off to others how good they were in their divine devotions.  We too can get caught up in this desire to show off how much holier we are than others – I know, I have done that in the past, but as I have grown older I have come to realise that I was only doing it to feel good about myself and better than others around me.

I have seen and experienced this often in some of the Evangelical Free Churches where, unless you go forward at the altar call to ask for prayer, you can be looked upon, or at least feel looked upon as a lesser Christian somehow. Jesus actually came down to Earth as God incarnate and left us the Holy Spirit so that we might go directly to him and not need all the trappings of the Temple system – that is the significance of the Veil of the Temple being torn down the middle from top to bottom (not bottom to top) that the barrier of ritual through the high priests should not be a barrier to our own direct access to God.

Now I am not advocating that we simply ignore Lent, what I am trying to convey is that simply giving something up which we like for forty days and forty nights doesn’t necessary make us a better Christian than somebody who doesn’t.  It matters what you do with the extra time which might be generated by abstaining from doing those things which you have given up and what you do, I suggest, is to try and spend more time communicating with God by enjoying his presence through prayer and being attuned to his creation. Asking yourself, what was the true reason for giving up the pleasure which you did?

During Lent we have an opportunity to join a Lent Group to help us use up some of that devotional time we create.  I do serious recommend that you do this, but if you cannot for some reason – such as you have other responsibilities to family or career or the Lent Group meets on a day or time not suited to you, don’t beat yourself up about it – God exists everywhere, he is not in a pigeon hole in a church or house group, he is with you wherever you go and is freely available to accompany you on your life’s journey.

Prayer is massively important and requires us to listen closely to what God might be saying to us as well as sending out our supplications – requests.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel passage that we do not need to make a big fuss either about praying. God knows already what is in our hearts and hears us through all the turmoil of our daily lives. Those, he says, who make a big fuss about their prayer and alms giving and worship, have already received their reward.  In other words the mere fact that they have been seen to be righteous by others is enough for them, but those who pray, give alms and worship quietly or in secret will receive their reward from God because it is for God, and not the people around, that they seek to do those righteous things.

Today, those of you who wish to will have ash and oil smeared on your foreheads. That is a simple symbol to remind us that we are only here for a season and that we came from dust and to dust we shall return.  As an astronomer I can tell you that this is a very true statement – we were, in fact, all made from stardust and one day our earthy remains will all return to the cosmos.  We must make the most of our life and continue to remember that our very existence is dependent upon God and no other single person. Earlier on in my Christian journey, I liked to profess my Christian faith by keeping the sooty smear visible on my forehead for as long as I could – quite easy with my lack of follicle covering; but here we read from Jesus that his disciples are expected to wash their faces and look healthy, not suffering from lack of nutrients through fasting or going around with a clear sign that they are fasting.  The prophet Isaiah also asked the question of the usefulness of fasting if we don’t use it as a means of remembering and praising God.

On Sunday our Gospel scripture reading was Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration and when I read tonight’s reading, also by Matthew, I was struck by Jesus’s instruction to his disciples not to look dismal, like the hypocrites, or to disfigure their faces. Like him, we as Christians, have the light of Christ already in us by accepting him as our Saviour and being filled with the Holy Spirit.  That light is expected to shine out from us, like the stars from which we are born.

Finally, Jesus reminds us that storing up riches here on earth will only result in them turning to rust or stolen or eaten by moths – even the finest clothing. Having recently been the victim of a theft I know only too well how easily that can occur. More important is the richness of our relationships with God and others. That is what is meant by storing up riches in Heaven, for the future.

So a good thing for us all to reflect upon and your homework for Lent is to spend some time each day thinking about what is really important you in life.  Who are the main people you love and where is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in it and what part in your life do they play or you want them to play?

How you do that is a matter of your own personal choice – whether giving something up – fasting – helps you or not. Maybe giving something up means simply finding an extra for minutes in the day to pray and reflect remembering that you are doing this to enhance your relationship with God and not to show off to others and feel good about yourself.  The riches promised are immeasurable.

Amen                                                                                                  MFB/21022023/184

SERMON 183 - SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2023 - NEXT BEFORE LENT

SERMON AT ST. PETER’S CHURCH, BRAMSHAW – SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2023 – SUNDAY BEFORE LENT

Exodus 24:12-18; Matthew 17:1-9

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

These two narratives this morning, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New, have, as their central theme significant experiences on mountain tops and both involve the prophet Moses, first as an historical account during Moses lifetime and secondly as an apparent vision many centuries after his death.

I have always been intrigued by the narrative of the Transfiguration and its meaning – not just for those disciples of Christ who had the immediate incredible experience there on the mountainside, but also for us as Christians today, perhaps sometimes in the valleys of our lives.  It is clearly an event of great importance as it appears in all three synoptic gospels – not only Matthew but also Mark and Luke.  Interestingly it does not appear in John’s gospel although it would seem that John was the one gospeller who was actually present.  Probably, therefore, for us Christian followers it is, together with Christ’s passion and ascension, one of the most important of the pillars of our Christian Faith for reasons I hope I can explain.

Turning back to the beginning of our second reading, which I think is a good place to start, we learn that Jesus took with him, up a mountain (whose name is not recorded in any of the gospels by the way) three disciples – Peter, James and John.  The reason which Luke (but not the others) attribute to this climb is for the purpose of prayer.  Now here is an important point, prayer is not just about supplication – that is asking for things from God, - but also meant as a time of communication and conversation.  As we know, conversation and communication in order to be effective has to be two way – and so does prayer.  In our daily prayer-life we should take time out not only to talk to God but also to listen to what God is saying to us.  Clearly, this is what Jesus intended when he went up this mountain to pray – to communicate with his father and listen to his word.

When they had reached the top of the mountain we read that Jesus was suddenly “transfigured”.  I looked up the word “transfigure” in the dictionary so as to clearly understand its meaning and found a lovely definition – “to transform into something more beautiful or elevated”. What a wonderful word which I really wish we could use more often to describe things today in our modern world.

Matthew, in his description of the event says that Jesus’s face shone like the Sun and his clothes became dazzling white.  He literally appeared to glow with the glory of God.  It has often been said to me that people can recognise a true dedicated Christian by the way they seem to glow or the way their face seems to shine.  I used to think that that was probably a bit of an exaggeration but if we think about the Transfiguration, and that each of us who has accepted Christ into our lives and received the gift of the Holy Spirit, surely then we should also shine, that we too are, to some extent “transfigured”. Shouldn’t we too, by being true followers of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit be transformed into something more beautiful or elevated whilst still retaining our humility?

But, of course, the narrative doesn’t end there, simply with Jesus appearing different. He is joined by two other characters who the disciples recognise immediately as Moses and Elijah and here the significance of the Transfiguration to the disciples and us reaches a new, and pardon the pun, greater height!

Both Moses and Elijah were prominent and significant people from the Old Testament – Moses was the Law Giver and Elijah the Great Prophet; and where did they have great experiences of hearing the voice of God?  Yes, on mountain tops, in fact each on the same mountain although in Moses case it was then called Mount Sinai and in Elijah’s time Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:11-13). Biblical scholars are convinced that it was indeed the same mountain in the Sinai Desert wilderness. So, it is appropriate that God would speak to Jesus and his disciples at the top of a mountain with representatives of the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) for Jesus had already said that he had come to fulfil both the Law and the Prophecies as the Son of God, that he was indeed God incarnate here on Earth.

So, for the Jewish disciples who were expecting the great Messiah, here was a clear vision that Jesus was not just another prophet, as some other Faiths believe, but that he was indeed the Son of God, fulfilling both the Law of Moses and the prophesies of Elijah and others and we, today, should recall the Transfiguration as this clear illustration of Jesus’s role on Earth.  We read that God’s voice was loud and clear in this regard when he said “This is my Son, the Beloved with whom I am well pleased” – words which echo back to Jesus’s baptism by John in the River Jordan. Two clear announcements of Jesus’s true identity.

Of course, Peter, as usual doesn’t quite understand it.  I like Peter very much because time and time again I can identify with him and think he represents us everyday folk who sometimes struggle with the messages which Jesus gave to us.  Peter believes that Moses and Elijah have returned to join forces with Jesus and so, in order to keep them here back on Earth, he thinks that if we build each of them a house, they will remain.  Of course, whilst Moses’s death is recorded in the Old Testament, Elijah we read was “taken up” and even today Jewish families keep an empty seat and place-setting and keep the door open for Elijah during the Passover meal.  This also signifies for us Christians the importance of that last Passover supper and the sacrament of Holy Communion today. Elijah’s place is now Christ’s place and he shares his meal with us symbolically by the sacrifice of his body and blood.

We are about to enter Lent and it is no co-incidence that the lectionary has the Transfiguration as the established reading immediately before we begin forty days and forty nights of fasting. We read in our first reading that in Moses’s other mountain top experience he was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.  We read that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after spending forty days and forty nights fasting and praying.

Jesus tells his disciples that they should not say anything to anyone about the experience until after he has been raised from the dead. Why? Well, once risen he will be transfigured for all time and what has been said and seen will be a clear indication that Jesus was indeed the Son of God – without any question at all.

So, during the forthcoming period of Lent I encourage you to read again and reflect upon the three synoptic gospel passages describing the Transfiguration in the context of asking yourself – “who do I think Jesus is?”  “What role did he play for me whilst on Earth and what role does he play in my life today?”  It is always good to test your faith because by that means way we can strengthen it and describe it to others.

So I will start you off by reading the Transfiguration narrative again but this time in the fuller wording of Mark – which was the oldest original description:

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. ³ His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

⁵ Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

⁷ Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

⁸ Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰ They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

¹¹ And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

¹² Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? ¹³ But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”

What word or phrase springs out to you in this fuller version? I leave you to ponder and reflect.

Amen                                                                                                  MFB/17022023/183

SERMON 182 - SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2023

SERMON AT TEAM EUCHARIST SERVICE – SUNDAY 29 JANUARY 2023 – CANDLEMASS

Malachi 3:1-5; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40

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

When I was a treble chorister back in my schooldays in north Lincolnshire there were two pieces which we choir boys loved most from the Common Psalter – Psalm 117 and the Song of Simeon (Luke 2:29) – the “Nunc” as we called it.  Not because these pieces were particularly poetic or contained beautiful prose but because they were short!  If we could gabble through Evening Prayer quickly enough, we could race back home in time to follow whatever TV series was starting that Sunday evening at 7.30 p.m. I well recall the Forsyth Saga being on then.

Since that time, and certainly since training for the ministry, I have grown to like and understand more fully what the words of the “Nunc” actually mean and their importance to our faith. As I have grown older I have gone from identifying with the parents of the child Jesus – indeed when my own son Thom was born we took him into Salisbury Cathedral to give thanks for his safe delivery, where one of the cathedral guides remarked that I must be a very proud grandfather! – to identifying more with that true grandfather figure of Simeon.

We know very little about Simeon; perhaps he was a “temple” guide like the cathedral one who saw Thom, but we do know that he had a strong faith and a premonition that he would see the Messiah before he died.  His words, as recorded in the Nunc Dimittis, have become such an integral part of our evening prayer liturgy that their importance cannot be over emphasised.

It is a sad thing that often, in our modern-day wealthy western culture, the elderly are not respected to the same extent as in many poorer countries.  We tend to live in a society where we must make our own way and often don’t feel humble enough, or do not recognise the richness of the wisdom which older people can bring  to our lives or the experiences of life which they have and can share.

I recall, even here in Winterslow, there was an elderly lady who regularly went to the Nelson’s Arms for her lunch at the end of the week. Without mentioning names, I am sure some of you will know who I mean.  She was outwardly a “sweet little lady” who sometimes struggled with her purse, but on further discussions it was clear that in the past she must have been a very shrewd and strong individual when it was discovered that she had been behind enemy lines in partisan France as a member of Churchill’s SOE Secret Army sabotaging Nazi installations and railways. Looks can certainly deceived and an example of never dismissing an elderly person. We have our freedom to thank for her and others like her.

This passage of scripture constantly reminds me to respect the elderly because you never quite know what richness and wisdom they can bring to a situation.  We don’t actually know how old Simeon is – we are told he was a righteous man and had clearly studied scripture over many years.  He was clearly nearer the end of his life than the beginning because he was anxious to see our Lord before his own death.  However, we are told that he was not alone and that there was also Anna, a widow aged precisely at 84 who similarly had prophesised about the coming of Jesus.  I do wonder, as they looked upon the beautiful baby boy and his doting parents, what their true thoughts were about the sacrifice which would ultimately have to be made upon the Cross.  I recall Jeremy Davies, in a sermon he gave several years ago in ST John’s, Winterslow, wondering about those tiny hands which might now be opening and closing into tiny fists but would in years to come be stretched and spread out for the cruel nails of Calvary.  I can no longer think of this passage without that thought in my own mind.

Simeon, however was honest with the mother Mary when he said to her ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’  I do wonder what Mary made of that statement.

We call this celebration of Jesus’s presentation at the Temple “Candlemass” and although Lent and Easter are now just around the corner, it is a time for reflecting and celebrating the light of Christ coming into this world.  Just as Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple for “purification” and thanksgiving so we should celebrate Jesus amongst us today – the light to lighten the world – for both Jews and Gentiles.

We recently celebrated the arrival of other men of wisdom bringing their gifts and gold, frankincense and myrrh.  I pointed out when I preached at Epiphany that the importance of these strangers travelling from afar was to send an allegorical message that Jesus had come for everyone independent of their particular race, nationality, creed or colour. Today we celebrate that ministry of Jesus who came for all and especially the poor and outcast in our society. That is the legacy which he leaves us too as his disciples.

He is and remains the true light of the world and we as his disciples and his church, are empowered by that same Holy Spirit which came upon Simeon and Anna. We can best honour him by trying to do our best to bring light and peace to all whom we might encounter in our ordinary daily lives.

So often I hear elderly people say, “…if only I had done [this or that] in my life but I am too old now…” or “I am too old to even think about that now” or ‘’what I can do at my age?” But in my experience that is totally the wrong attitude to have. Okay, we might not feel up to going off to do missionary work in Mozambique or even training for formal church ministry here at home but there is always something which you can do, however old or inexperienced you are with the aid of the Spirit.  You can pray – either on your own or together.  A healthy prayer life, it is believed, can lead to a healthier life all round and prayer is, in this country and in the western world at large in very short supply at present.

Jesus once said to his disciples – “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few”. There are so many issues in our current world, not least the wars and famines which seem to intensify daily, as well as people closer to home struggling with illnesses and the rise in the cost of living.  Each and every one of us who has given their life to Christ must remember that we carry his light within us and as we age so we can shine even brighter with all that experience and wisdom we have gained – not just from the good times of our life but also those times when our faith might have been sorely tested.

This morning we light candles to demonstrate the light of Christ coming into this world. At some point in or after the service we will extinguish them. When we do that let’s remember that the light continues to shine within us to help guide and strengthen the paths of ourselves and others.

I remember once being told that none of us is perfect.  Each of us has flaws – cracks if you like.  The older we are the more cracks we are likely to have because life will simply have knocked us about a bit. That is good news because the more cracks we have the more light is likely to filter through to the outside and to those around us. I like that thought – the more cracked or imperfect we are the brighter the light which we can shine.

The message today, then, is that just like Simeon and Anna, even if we feel our life is nearly over or we are not sure what we are currently doing with it – God will show us that there is still much we can usefully do in furtherance of his ministry here on Earth starting with praying with the Holy Spirit (the light) within us.

So, my challenge, what are you going to do from today when we blow out the allegorical lights on the candles in order to shine your own gifted light of Christ on others?

 

Amen                                                                                                  MFB/260120023/182

 

SERMON 181 - SUNDAY 15 JANUARY 2023

 SERMON AT ALDERBURY ST. MARY’S CHURCH, ALL AGE WORSHIP

– SUNDAY 15 JANUARY 2023 – EPIPHANY 2

Isaiah 49:1-7;  1 Corinthians 1:1-9;  John 1:29-42

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

When I was practising the law and, especially when preparing to take a case in court, the one thing which I would remind my clients, time and time again, was that under our adversarial system of justice in this country, it was imperative that their story or narrative as a witness hung together well.  I called it the “stick of rock theory” which had been conjured up by my principal – the lawyer who had first engaged me in my first legal job. He had told me, and I passed this on to my clients or witnesses, that their story or recollection would be challenged by the other side and, like a stick of seaside rock, if it had the words “Skegness” in it at the first lick it must have “Skegness” in it at the last.  Should “Brighton” or “Scarborough”, or “Blackpool” suddenly appear halfway through then the whole stick of rock – or narrative – was imperfect and open to challenge. I can honestly say, that during my career, sometimes “Brighton” or “Scarborough” might appear in our apparently wholesome “stick” of a case and we invariably lost those cases.

Looks can also often deceive.  Let me give you another example from my past.  Back in the 1980s I was intent on climbing the greasy pole of politics and stood for Parliament in South Wales. When I tell you that I stood in the Welsh coaling mining valleys as a Conservative you will understand why I, and my fellow candidates, were labelled in the press as the “Tory Kamikaze Squadron”.  I was quite young and naïve back then and when, calling upon a terrace house in the town of Maesteg (an arch typical mining town straight out of the novel “How Green was my Valley” by Richard Llewellyn) I had clear pre-conceived ideas that we might be wasting our time and my thoughts seemed to be confirmed when a resident, wearing a rather dirty string vest, ran after me crying “I’ve been waiting for you to call” in what I took to be a rather menacing manner. Expecting a fist being lunged in my direction (the Conservative Government had, after all, closed most of the coal mines in the vicinity) I was completely surprised when he thrust some grubby bank notes in my hand asking me to accept this as a donation towards our fighting fund.  He went on to explain that he had been unhappy about his membership of his Trade Union and their political stance which had been supported by the local incumbent MP which he blamed primarily for the closure of the mines.

The essence of these stories, both examples from my own life’s experience, is that we can sometimes have pre-conceived ideas which prove to be totally wrong and we can also retell stories or narratives differently or with embellishment.  I am sure I have probably rather overembellished the Maesteg story over time – it might even have been a different Welsh village in the constituency but the message remains the same.

In examining our Gospel reading this morning – John’s account of the calling of Simon Peter as one of Jesus’s disciples, differs somewhat from that of the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke who each have Jesus walking along the edge of the Sea of Galilee and calling Simon Peter  away from his labours as a fisherman.  John seems to have inserted “Scarborough” into our Skegness rock.  To what extent does that matter to the essential message of the narrative?

When I was young my mother taught me that first impressions counted for much – the way you dressed and spoke in particular.  It is the reason that today, although I was brought up in a northern fishing town on the Humber Estuary, I do not speak with a guttural Grimbarian accent.  When I was on the circuit looking for a Parliamentary seat to fight I recall one member of the selection committee in Brighton telling me that she didn’t take into account much of the content of the speeches made – her choice would be largely based on whether the candidate had nicely polished shoes!  After that I would always ensure that I could see my face in my own shoes!

John the Baptist based his pronouncement that Jesus was the Messiah by his observation of of “a dove descending and remaining” on a man who had come to be baptised with the strong belief that the dove represented the Holy Spirit. On the basis of this first impression he proclaimed that Jesus is the one on who is the Messiah – the one who will go on to baptize with the Holy Spirit. That Jesus is indeed the Son of God.

Jesus was from that moment a marked individual and it was two of John’s own disciples who, with John, saw Jesus pass by when John exclaimed “Look here is the Lamb of God” and we read that immediately the two disciples left John and followed Jesus to his lodgings.  Such must have been the strength of John’s claim for them to leave being one of his disciples and following Jesus to find out more.

When then have one of the most interesting and I think important phrases in the New Testament.  John’s disciples having attracted Jesus’s attention ask him where he is staying and Jesus gives that wonderful phrase “Come and See”.  An invitation to come, of their own volition and spend some time with Jesus. Indeed, from the passage we learn that they spent the rest of the day with him no doubt trying to find out whether those first impressions of their late master John were indeed accurate.

Towards the end of the passage we learn from the gospeller that one of the two erstwhile disciples of John was Andrew, a fisherman himself, and that he went afterwards to his brother, Simon Peter, to tell him that they had found the Messiah.  When then read that when Simon was brought into the presence of Jesus he was told by Jesus that he would thereafter be known Cephas or Peter meaning rock.

So, let’s analyse the sequence of events and see how they fit in with our own faith.  Essentially there are four stages in this story which, I think, we are meant to follow in our own Faith.  As Christians, we are meant to be evangelical whenever we can and our Church missional.  I am a firm believer in that.

The four stages are “Come, See, tell, repeat”.  The gospel passage is one of witness – John’s witnessing of the dove descending on Jesus as the Holy Spirit and the disciples witnessing what Jesus has to tell them during their hours together. Clearly what was said impressed Andrew sufficient to bring his brother Simon Peter to see him.  And so, the first stage of “come” is about taking the first step in answering Jesus’s invitation to spend time with him. He calls us, today, to do just that.  It is an invitation, not an order, and we can choose whether to answer that call or not but if we do not then we can be missing out on something really good and powerful.  The second stage, after having come into the presence of Jesus, is to see what he has to offer.  We do not know specifically what was spoken about in those hours in Jesus’s lodgings, or what they saw, but it had a powerful influence on their decision to leave John and become disciples of Christ.

The third stage, is to tell others as accurately as we can. To recount that first impression of Jesus which those two disciples had during that first meeting. Likewise, when we have been in the presence of Jesus we need to have the courage to tell others how we felt and what impressions we had when we felt ourselves in the presence of Jesus. 

Finally, to impress on others the importance of repeating the narrative just as we should ourselves repeat it to as many people as possible.

Now we know, from the examples I gave earlier, that the narrative can vary depending upon memory and recollections.  Indeed, quite recently, an important institution in this country used the term “It has to be accepted that people’s recollections of events may not always be the same” but we should try, always, to do our best to be as accurate as possible – our stick of rock.

The important thing here is, though, like Andrew, we are expected to spread the good news and not keep it to ourselves.  Jesus later on in his ministry at the Sermon on the Mount asked his congregation “what good is there in having a bright light and then hiding it under a bowl” (Matthew 5:14-16).  He was alluding to this very point.

So to conclude – we can take away three important points from this passage:

First of all, first impressions can count and we should accept our emotions and feelings when Jesus calls us

Secondly, we should obey his invitation to “come and see” for ourselves what he has to offer

Thirdly, we should tell and repeat our experiences of the good news to others.

We can then be part of a truly missional church of God.

 

 Amen                                                                                                  MFB/12012023/181