Artistic reflection on Kingdom People Characteristics

Recently, I was asked to talk to our Readers about using the Visual Arts in worship. As part of the sessions, the archdeacon spoke about the Kingdom People priorities for the diocese, so in our concluding worship I pulled together the two themes into this short reflection.

This weekend we’ve been reflecting on our use of Visual Arts in Worship. This morning we’ve been joining with the creator in the act of creation. God calls us to be co-creators of the kingdom. Yet what is it we seek to create?

Most beautiful works of art rely upon a well-balanced palette. That’s what I see in the Kingdom People priorities; a palette from which each church can create the kingdom in their local community.

We need the PURPLE which is the prayer and study of the scriptures. In my paintings I use purple for shadows – for that which is always there but not always noticed. The result of our interplay with the light.

The GREEN of regular worship is not just ordinary time; the time of the church is green because it is then when we grow and our worship should be that which is a sign of growth.

The witness of the gospel of Love, Compassion, Justice and Freedom is RED. It’s a bright colour which stands out and symbolises the passion of our faith. If used alone can seem too much but tempered with others can be beautiful.

YELLOW is our dedication to helping children and young people to belong and be nurtured in the faith. Without that bright and light colour of yellow which is young and joyful, the paintings of our kingdom can become dull and lifeless.

Growing deeply in discipleship is WHITE; the willingness to be a blank canvas for God, to allow space for God’s call in us.

BLUE represents being resourced and released to minister to others, like the blue water of the river flowing from the temple in Ezekiel’s vision, in which growth is most vibrant the further the river goes, not in a stagnant pool gathered around the church.

The ORANGE of serving our community with love compassion justice and freedom is that passion mixed with the vitality of yellow.

The BLACK of our buildings being fit for purpose is not for the gloom of the buildings hanging over us but for the that which stands out and defines and outlines our work. 

All our churches will create something different in their painting of Kingdom People in their communities as we choose the blend those colours from our palette. The palette is there for us and we need to make choices. But there is one most important choice. As we seek to be Kingdom People let us remember to be co-creators with our God and to do any of that we must have the courage to make a choice – to pick up the paint brush and create something beautiful.

Evensong Sermon - Just War

I preached at BCP evensong on Sunday evening and oddly I focussed on the Psalm

Psalm 119.81-96
81 My soul is pining for your salvation; • I have hoped in your word.
82 My eyes fail with watching for your word, • while I say, ‘O when will you comfort me?’ 83 I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, • yet I do not forget your statutes.
84 How many are the days of your servant? • When will you bring judgement on those who persecute me?
85 The proud have dug pits for me • in defiance of your law.
86 All your commandments are true; • help me, for they persecute me with falsehood.
87 They had almost made an end of me on earth, • but I have not forsaken your commandments.
88 Give me life according to your loving-kindness; • so shall I keep the testimonies of your mouth.
89 O Lord, your word is everlasting; • it ever stands firm in the heavens.

Turning to this evening’s readings I was captured most, somewhat unusually by the text of the Psalm, particularly the psalmists words of lament:
84 How many are the days of your servant? • When will you bring judgement on those who persecute me?

As I feel these words reflect how many in Syria might be feeling right now. The reading we heard from Isaiah too talks about the way you might view others either as those who are unfamiliar or those who are part of God’s creation:

No longer will you see the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a language that you cannot understand. Look on Zion, the city of our appointed festivals! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, (Isaiah 33)

At the time of first writing this sermon, the vote in the Houses of Parliament was yet to be taken. We were on the brink of a decision. Now we know that the commons voted against approving future military action by UK troops in Syria. I don’t know how you feel about that decision and most of us are probably fortunate enough that we will never have to make a decision which would affect so many thousands of people yet if we were called to make that decision, how as Christians would we do so?

I’m sure like me you have been disturbed by the images of those injured by what sources strongly suggest are chemical weapons, you may have been aching with compassion at the idea of 1 million child refugees fleeing from Syria so far. We may feel compelled that we or the government and international authorities should do SOMETHING. Yet what should that something be? Should this lead to war?

Fortunately for us, many wise Christians over the years have thought about war and the moral decisions involved with it. Even in the very early years of the church, St Augustine of Hippo spoke about the idea of a just war. He argued that war is something fought for the sake of securing peace, saying: “Better, I say, is war with the hope of peace everlasting than captivity without any thought of deliverance.” Augustine went on to talk about the justification of war for the sake of safety or honour. He goes on to explore the alternative to feeling the need to wage war:

“But, say they, the wise man will wage just wars. As if he would not all the rather lament the necessity of just wars, if he remembers that he is a man; for if they were not just he would not wage them, and would therefore be delivered from all wars. For it is the wrongdoing of the opposing party which compels the wise man to wage just wars; and this wrong-doing, even though it gave rise to no war, would still be matter of grief to man because it is man’s wrong-doing. Let every one, then, who thinks with pain on all these great evils, so horrible, so ruthless, acknowledge that this is misery. And if any one either endures or thinks of them without mental pain, this is a more miserable plight still, for he thinks himself happy because he has lost human feeling.” The City of God (Book XIX) chapter 7



Thomas Aquinas writing some 800 years later reflected further on Augustine’s ideas.He begins as he often does by saying exactly why war is totally unconscionable and then goes onto describe circumstances in which it might be acceptable after all. He says that three things were necessary:
• That the war be waged by someone with proper authority
• That there be a just cause for waging war
• That those waging the war are doing so for the right reasons.

The Just war principle has been expanded over the years from these early ethical theologians. In addition to those three, modern Just War principle also argues that:
• all other avenues of diplomacy must first be explored and only after they are exhausted should war be considered as a final option
• Another important modern principle is the likelihood of success
 • Some also add the condition of comparative injustice – is what is being done to cause the war worse than the war proposed Just methods of waging war have also been added which insist that a just war is one in which
• non-combatants are not targeted deliberately and
• restricts attacks on military targets which might involve collateral damage to non-combatants. Just war theory also dictates that
• only the minimum force required is used and
• that weapons (such as the chemical weapons described as possibly being in use in Syria or nuclear weapons) are not used and
 • that prisoners of war, as those who are no longer combatants, are treated humanely.

These are the principles which, as Christians we could use to make the decision about going to war. My hope and prayer is that our government will work with others to explore further avenues of diplomacy to secure the safety of the people of Syria. It is not our decision Yet other decisions do face us.

What are we to do in response to the crisis in Syria. Will we donate money to the Disaster Emergency Committee? Will we pray for those people in Syria and those making decisions? Will we put ourselves out in any way?

More than 20 years on I am proud of my, now departed, mum who on seeing the news of the war in the former Yugoslavia, picked up the phone to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees and asked what she could do. They were able to tell her of a charity nearby and our church then collected clothes, sanitary products, food and other items specifically requested and volunteers delivered these to a depot 20 miles away for shipping to refugee camps.

This week, each of us will face decisions which affect people's lives in small or great ways. As we do so,let's remember and pray for those who make big decisions and in our own decisions, we may not have Just War principles to help us for whatever those decisions might be; how we deal with our neighbour moving our bin or our family switching the channel on the tv. We may not have such a clear checklist as that for a just war but let's remember what our God teaches us about how we should treat others, loving them as ourselves and loving God with all our heart mind and soul.

The Infamous Penguin Sermon

Sermon St Mary’s 25th February 2013
Psalm 27 Genesis 15.1-13 Luke 13:31-35  

This very short Gospel reading which we heard this morning is a curious text. It is brief yet contains so many possibilities. We have Pharisees asking Jesus to go away because of Herod’s desire to kill him. Are these good Pharisees concerned for Jesus or is this a polite form of threat? We have Jesus’ description of Jerusalem as “the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” sadly an image that is still apt today as Bishop John’s reflection on his recent visit to the Holy Land, in his Lent Message makes clear. (Check out the video on the diocesan website if you’ve not seen it) and then there is this curious talk of the fox and the chicken.


Jesus expression of his desire to care for the people of Israel “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” was brought to life for me this week as I was watching the penguin programme on BBC1 – I don’t know if anyone else has been watching this Penguins, Spy in the Huddle, filmed using cameras disguised as penguins, eggs and rocks so that they get intimate shots of the penguins in their natural state and behaviour. It’s been a beautiful, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking series with images of care given by mother and father penguin alike and the care the adult penguins offer each other either through the large group or most poignantly when a female penguin placed her head on the shoulder of a fellow female who had been too late in finding her lost chick. The huddle of the title is the closely knit group which the penguins form, with their eggs or their young chicks carefully balanced on their feet, to become one large mass against the bitterly cold winds – gathered together as if under one great wing.

This image which Jesus uses of a hen gathering her brood under her wings is a powerful expression of God’s love for his creation, for the people of Israel and for the church. God as loving mother and father; loving hen against the threatening fox of the empire, seeking to protect the children of God and sorrowed when we refuse the protection of the motherly wing. The other element of this short dense Gospel is the surety of Jesus. Jesus seems so very sure of himself and of his course. Something I imagine few of us feel all - if any - of the time. Even though this group of Pharisees come and tell him of a very good reason why he should be afraid, he sticks to his decided path which he know leads to his destiny in Jerusalem. How does he maintain this surety? I can identify much more clearly with Abram, in our first reading. He shows a more human lack of surety. God needed to assure him not to be afraid. Jesus refuses to give in to the fear the Pharisees seem to want to instil in him.

How did Jesus maintain such surety? Obviously he was human and yet also divine so he had something more than the rest of us but I think also he would have turned to those Hebrew Scriptures he knew so well. The gospels show us that the book of psalms is one of the key scriptures for Jesus in supporting his ministry. On Good Friday I’m going to be leading the three hours service and we’ll be taking a journey to the cross through the book of psalms. It is a book he quoted and one which, as all young Jewish boys, he would have learned by heart. As a foretaste, this morning, I’d like to explore this passage we heard today through the psalm set for this morning. Psalm 27.

Psalm 27 is one which might well have given Jesus strength and assurance. Like Jesus’ own words, it too is a psalm of certainty, of great faith.

1The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 

 Many of the psalms are words of lament or words of praise but this famous psalm is one which is a declaration of faith and dedication to God.

13I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Not only does the writer declare their own faith but equally exhorts the listeners also to have faith: 14Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

This surety doesn’t come without an awareness of the possible dangers and doubts in life:

3Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. 

The surety comes not from ignoring doubts and troubles but instead from the determination no matter what to follow the path set by God and a deep devotion to prayer:

4One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. 

The Psalmist follows God’s path but it doesn’t mean that the path is one which is entirely without problems.

11Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. 

 Knowing all his psalms, I imagine Jesus might have felt his responses to the Pharisees echoed parts of this psalm. He is fully aware of the enemies that are there against him. Yet like the mother hen when danger threatens, Jesus’ concern is not for his own safety but for that of his people, offering his own body as a shield against that which would threaten us. For him there is little space for doubt. Not so for us though.

Like most of us I have times of doubt. Times when I’m not so sure of where I’m going, where the church is going whether God is real enough to make a difference to my life and the world. It might surprise some people to hear doubt not faith being preached from the pulpit but these times of doubt are key for all of us. Without being aware of the doubts and challenges to us we cannot experience the depth of our relationship with God. In our certainty we feel confident to live without relying on God, like those small penguin chicks we can wander off on our own and explore, we can keep on keeping on, never exploring that valley of shadow. It is only in our doubting that we truly turn to God, to seek shelter under God’s motherly wing and be reminded of God’s deep love for each of us and our great need for God.

In a moment we’ll stand and declare our faith, as we rightly should that which WE BELIEVE – a statement of what we as those who stand together across the world as the church believe together (like that great penguin huddle) but with space for each of us in our own time to doubt as well as to believe, to doubt and find God all the more deeply in our doubting, to doubt and find ourselves held up by the faith of others and so more able than ever to say WE BELIEVE

 Luke 13:31-35 31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Genesis 15.1-13 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”[a] 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed the LORD; and the LORD[b] reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 Then he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. 13 Then the LORD[c] said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; 14 but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

Psalm 27 1The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh— my adversaries and foes— they shall stumble and fall. 3Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. 4One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. 5For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock. 6Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord. 7Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! 8“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek. 9Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! 10If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. 11Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. 12Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. 13I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Sermon on Mark 13

The Readings for the morning are: Daniel 12:1-13 & Mark 13:1-8

When I saw that the gospel reading for this morning when I would be preaching for you was the beginning of this chapter of Mark, I had one of those moments when God made me stop in my tracks. It was one of those moments when things seem to fit into place and a little part of me knew my placement with you would be something special. Not so much because of the content of this passage but because I journeyed with this passage during Lent this year.

Just before I was filling in a form to help chose where my placement church would be I was part of a parish challenge which our vicar organised. She challenged members of the congregation to learn, by heart, a chapter of Mark’s Gospel for “performance” on two Sunday evening in the run up to Easter. So 16 members of the church, me included set about trying to learn a chapter and I was given chapter 13. This meant that I focussed far more on this particular passage than I might ever have done otherwise as it’s not really one of my favourite passages.

It wouldn’t have been my first choice to be thinking about the end of the world. I might have preferred some stories of healing or a familiar parable. Not many of us would be naturally inclined to pick this passage or any of the others which talk about the end of the world but I know some of the church have been looking at this kind of passage in the series of evenings looking at Heaven. The evenings have been focussed on things we rarely talk or think about, angels, heaven and hell, funerals and death.

Of course our outlook on this kind of thing is not so different from the disciples. I don’t suspect that the awestruck disciple who points out to Jesus the grandeur of the temple was thinking it would prompt Jesus to begin a speech about the end of days. How shocking it must have been to this disciple who stared in wonder at the great stones that made up the temple which was so central to their life and faith then to hear Jesus say that it would all be torn down. All that was familiar would be destroyed and then he goes on to talk about the challenges that they would all face:

"When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.” 

Indeed the disciples were clearly so disturbed and shocked by Jesus’ comment on the temple that later when they are sat on the Mount of Olives looking down at the temple they privately ask Jesus for more information and of course the reality of the destruction would have been all to clear for those reading the gospel at the time of its composition. After four years of the Judean revolution the Roman generals Vespasian and Titus finally put down the rebels in AD 70 and destroyed the Jewish temple mentioned in the story.

We might be inclined to focus on the positive stories of the kingdom not the ones about the end or the difficult times but Jesus isn’t shy about talking about it so I don’t think we should be. Our first reading shows us that the sorts of things Jesus is talking about were not new but deeply rooted in Jewish tradition:

“There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence.” 

And I think a word which Jesus uses towards the end of the passage gives us some insight into how we can approach passages such as this one. Jesus describes all these things as just “the beginning of the birthpangs.”

These things are like the great pains (so I’m told) that women go through before the birth of a child. Jesus is telling us that there will be terrible trials but that, coming through these trials, as a result something will be born which is worth all the trials. The coming of the Kingdom – that season which we celebrate as a church at the moment. I’m sure many of us have been through things which were (or may be still are) terribly painful yet which we know have also brought us things which we could never have experienced otherwise. I know for myself that ten years ago when my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer our family went through a really tough time. Yet for me it made me realise how much life should be valued and that time should not be wasted and in many ways it was that tough time which triggered me in to working for the church and exploring my vocation.

Over the time I’ve been on placement with you I’ve spoken with some of you about some of the trials and joys which life has brought you and I’ve also been joyed to see how strong the faith of many of you is well we might say in spite of trials but I think it’s better to say because of these trials. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes:

"Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Romans 15:4-13 

And I think the passage we had in our Gospel today is such a passage. A reminder that endurance and encouragement of the scriptures such as this in our own lives we can still have – and perhaps because of have even more - hope. And hope in Jesus who is somehow more approachable as we know Jesus experienced much that we experience and many things beyond the trials we ourselves endure. As Paul says earlier in the same letter:

 “ we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Romans 5.1-11 

And it’s not just in our own individual lives. Our world sometimes focuses too much on the individual and not on the communal. For Jesus was speaking not on a personal scale but on a global one. He doesn’t talk about individual hunger but about famine, he doesn’t speak about family conflict but about war of nations not of individual against individual but of kingdom against kingdom. The kingdom of the world against the kingdom of God perhaps?

What do we mean by that idea of kingdom? A different way of living? A different way of viewing others? People often wonder what this Kingdom of God would be like. A wise man suggested to me last week that we can imagine what the kingdom would be like. What if when you went to sleep tonight the Kingdom of God became real on earth – when you wake up tomorrow how would you know? What would be different?

Christians objecting to how things are done in this world can cause conflict. Objecting to the way big business abuses those who work for them by paying them below a living wage. Objecting to the way governments around the world oppress minority groups because of their faith, ethnicity or gender causes conflict between Christians and non Christians these are but the beginning of the birth pangs. To see the kingdom on earth will take a radical overturning of the way the world is run as dramatic as the overturning of the temple Jesus talked about. Yet it may not all happen in one big dramatic way. We pray all the time in the Lord ’s Prayer "your kingdom come" and of course it is God who brings in the kingdom but God also asks us to do our part in overturning the world to make it more like the kingdom. As the great Desmond Tutu once said

Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” 

What are your little bits of good to do this week?

Where will you be challenging the worldly view and bringing in the kingdom?

Daniel 12:1-13
“At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be running back and forth, and evil shall increase.” Then I, Daniel, looked, and two others appeared, one standing on this bank of the stream and one on the other. One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was upstream, “How long shall it be until the end of these wonders?” The man clothed in linen, who was upstream, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven. And I heard him swear by the one who lives forever that it would be for a time, two times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be accomplished. I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked shall continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. From the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that desolates is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days. Happy are those who persevere and attain the thousand three hundred thirty-five days. But you, go your way, and rest; you shall rise for your reward at the end of the days.”

Mark 13:1-8
As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.  

Sermon Summary Notes
A) Initial reaction to reading – Mark 13 Lent challenge
B) Not my usual choice – or anyone’s: end of time, death, funerals link to “Heaven”
C) Shock of disciples at the time – temple – ask him for more details; Temple AD70
D) Jesus not shy about it; part of Hebrew Scriptures tradition
E) Birthpangs; of the kingdom (season); trials leading to good things; personal experiences; F) Paul on endurance
G) Not simply personal but global; what is the kingdom? Christians vs world birthpangs;
H) Personal challenge to little pieces of good

Sermon 12th August 2012

This morning's sermon. The readings were

Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2 John 6:35& 41-51 (see below)

 In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul sets us a challenge about how we should live and act and of course challenges are all over our televisions at the moment. Heading one of these challenges about not speaking negative I need to say this carefully but I’m not a great sports’ fan and so the Olympics is not something which generally inspires me. To be honest I’m really looking forward to the closing ceremony this evening more than much of the sport. My favourite bit of the Olympics so far as been the opening ceremony.

I loved its recognition of history (well a history of sorts) for its celebration of many things which reflect this country in literature and technology, in music and dance, in honouring those who have achieved great things and in upholding those who demonstrate great potential. For me the lighting of the Olympic torch by a group of young people who might one day be great Olympians was particularly special. The way each of those individual petals came together to be one was such a powerful symbol. I’m sure most of you won’t have failed to notice in the opening ceremony that it reflected the words of Jerusalem with its green and pleasant land, the dark satanic mills and the building of a kind of new Jerusalem symbolized by Glastonbury Tor (where Joseph of Arimathea is alleged to have planted his staff which then grew into a tree marking where he buried the Holy Grail) where all the flags of the world were placed together. There were also two hymns included in the music Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer sung by a choir of Welsh children and a beautiful rendition of Abide with Me by Emily Sandé accompanied by a juxtaposed energetic dance troupe to commemorate the victims of the July 7th bombings the day after London was awarded the Olympics for 2012. A bizarre element was the revealing of the inventor of the internet Tim Berners Lee and the words THIS IS FOR EVERYONE.

 It was not a very overtly expressed theology. There was not explicit mention of the centrality of the Christian faith to our heritage as a nation but to those who had eyes to see and ears to hear, the heart of the Christian faith beat through that opening ceremony. For me that remains the highlight of the Olympics so far. As I said, I’m not much of a sports fan.

There is a tiny exception to that. One which I think I can safely say none of you will guess. I’ve always rather enjoyed watching a rather peculiar sport, namely the pole vault. Now when I was younger I watched it out of sheer fascination that ANYBODY would pick up a long pole, run very fast, plant the pole in the ground and try to launch themselves over a bar. Later, I rather grew to enjoy watching people hopelessly flinging themselves off this pole and then falling haphazardly on the ready mat beneath. It seemed so much like some form of slapstick comedy. This year, I sat down to watch it (as there is little else on the TV but the Olympics) and I found it a rather different experience.

Instead of finding it comical I found myself unable to distance myself from the experience of the women who were jumping. Now as it is such an obscure sport, I’m going to dare to suggest it might need a slight explanation. Each competitor may choose at what height of bar they start competing. So there might be four or five who start trying to get over a bar set at 4.3m and trust me that looks pretty high (14’) and if they succeed at that height they move on to the next and some people might only start trying at 4.5 or 4.6 m. Each contestant attempts a height and CAN FAIL twice in a row at one height or fail at one height and move on to another height and fail and still try again but if they fail a third time in a row they’re out.

The conclusion of the pole vault event then is rather curious. Not the glorious powering to victory of Usain Bolt or Mo Farah but successive contestants failing to get the height set and be eliminated. In this year’s women’s Olympics final the last two jumps by the two remaining competitors were both fails. The woman who won gold successfully jumped 4.75m and then failed to jump 4.8 three times. The woman who won silver, a young girl from Cuba equaled her own personal best and the national record of 4.75 but then also failed to reach 4.8 and having more failed attempts earlier than her competitor finished second but did so with a smile and the support of the crowd! Now I’m sure there are many other sports just as convoluted and complicated which some of you may have watched this week. Something more complex than the simplicity of six people running a race and being placed 1st 2nd 3rd and so on. But for me the pole vault involves the inevitability of failure. Each competitor strives not simply to do their best but to show that they cannot do any better. They push themselves to beyond what they can do - and fail.

What St Paul asks of the Ephesians may seem much simpler than some of the huge challenges you might have seen some athletes facing during these past weeks of the Olympics but this challenge from St Paul is something else –

Put away from you all bitterness 
and wrath 
and anger 
and wrangling 
and slander, 
together with all malice, 
AND be kind to one another, 
tenderhearted, 
forgiving one another. 

Paul’s challenge is something incredibly difficult and YET, unlike those Olympic races, triathlons and heptathlons, something which we CAN all try to do and which we are all expected to aim for even if we must, like the pole vaulters, sometimes push ourselves beyond what we can do - and fail. Trying to control our anger or our malice can be a real challenge for some. Speaking gently of others, forgiving others is something we can all fail at. Yet having failed we can, like the pole vaulters try again and succeed and move on to try again to cease wrangling or to be kind. And of course – we can fail more than three times and still carry on trying! If you remember the story of Peter and Jesus, Peter is told he needs to forgive his brother seventy times seven – not just three and the good news is that forgiveness, that new start is there for each of us.

I don’t think Paul’s words are merely about BEING NICE. Is he suggesting perhaps that it is more difficult to be drawn to God if we present a negative attitude? Certainly I find it harder to connect with God if I’m at odds with other people. Paul’s exhortation to the people at Ephesus is not just asking everyone to BE NICE. There is something more fundamental about acting in the ways he describes than communal harmony. It is about enabling ourselves to get closer to God and, unlike some of the races, our striving is more like the pole vault. We are each trying to do our best and go beyond our best. It isn’t just those that win gold medals that succeed in God’s kingdom. It is the striving to do all those things that St Paul talks about, not the winning, that enables us to become a person who can connect with God.

The GOOD news for us of course as Jesus says in verses missed out in the gap in our Gospel reading anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; to echo back to the opening ceremony “This is for everyone” The good news of God’s love for us is not like competitions in the Olympics in which there are select winners. ANYONE and EVERYONE has the opportunity but with that opportunity comes the responsibility to live up to that great challenge which does of course require training, and support of others. Putting aside bitterness doesn’t come without work.

Being kind to people requires effort. Controlling our anger is something some of us have to work on more than others but I don’t think any one of us can demonstrate grace without regularly connecting with other Christians for support and connecting personally with God. Being tenderhearted of course requires us not to be soppy but to be vulnerable. Forgiving others, far from being yet another thing we must do, in fact underpins so much of all this challenge. If we can train ourselves to have the strength to forgive others, we have a chance of putting aside bitterness, wrath, malice, wrangling and slander

And if we can manage that then we can put aside “evil talk” allowing that which comes out of our mouths, to be as Paul says

“only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.” 

And of course this grace of speech is also not just about being nice. Paul also talks about speaking the truth and this can sometimes mean we need to challenge people. Of course this must be understood in context with his other command not to show malice and to build people up so it’s a fine balance.

Someone who has put this into words is our Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy who has written a poem called Translating the British, 2012. At its heart is a challenge to the government and the banks as well as celebration of all those people who have won medals but it begins and ends like this
Translating the British, 2012 
A summer of rain, then a gap in the clouds
and The Queen jumped from the sky
to the cheering crowds.
We speak Shakespeare here,
a hundred tongues, one-voiced; the moon bronze or silver,
sun gold, from Cardiff to Edinburgh
by way of London Town,
on the Giant's Causeway;
we say we want to be who we truly are,
now, we roar it. Welcome to us
We've had our pockets picked,
the soft, white hands of bankers,
bold as brass, filching our gold, our silver;
we want it back.
We are Mo Farah lifting the 10,000 metres gold.
We want new running tracks in his name…

(She goes on to name many athletes and concludes) 

We saw what we did. We are Nicola Adams and Jade Jones,
 bring on the fighting kids.
We sense new weather.
We are on our marks. We are all in this together.

(For the full poem see here)

 Fabulous words. Of course the Olympics has been a time of all kinds of people gathering together but next week the challenges will be individual ones for each of us. So where for you will that challenge be this week. What will be the leap you have to make in kindness, in putting aside malice or anger? Who do you have still to forgive that is stopping you from meeting with God? And if that all feels too tough a challenge remember we can fail and try again. With Jesus: We sense new weather. We are on our marks. We are all in this together. 5Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Texts for today

Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2 25
So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not make room for the devil. 28Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labour and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. 5Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

John 6:35& 41--51 35
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Transfiguring the Bible

The readings for this morning were 2 Kings 2:1-14 & Mark 9:2-10 2 and I preached on both combined as follows:

Recently the Bishop invited a theologian from London to come and speak to the clergy about the imaginative use of the Bible and among some fascinating ideas to enrich our understanding of scripture he suggested that we look at the Bible not as merely a collection of books stacked on an imaginary shelf and ordered as they are or in some quasi dewey decimal system by type but as a city to be explored. This idea brings a three dimensional concept to how the Bible is understood as a whole. The Bible is not one long A road from Genesis to Malachi and a new motorway extension from Matthew to Revelation. It can be seen as a city with districts: The Legal district, The left bank where poems, songs and wisdom abide, the historic quarter with museums filled with stories of the past, the residential areas where letters are exchanged, the edges of the city where prophets challenge the establishment and speak up for those whose voices which are not heard.

For me it was such a captivating idea that I am using it as my Lenten discipline this year. I am spending lent building a model city of the Bible (with a little help from my husband and his woodworking tools!) so that I can set it all out before me and explore. How would that image change the way we might explore this bestselling book? What might be round the corner of a passage? What might be linked by the same underground line? What might we see in the background of a book and what might be in the same vista or over the horizon? Sometimes when we hear two passages from different parts of the Scriptures we can struggle to see why these two have been put side by side. But with this city idea, we can imagine how it is natural for passages to be related, perhaps even constructed to be viewed alongside each other.

Today we have two stories that seem very clearly located in the same landscape. The Story of Elijah and his disciple Elisha is mirrored by the story of Jesus and his three closest disciples. Yet more than just a simple comparison, these stories help illuminate each other when considered together in partnership. For read together a third key biblical figure also becomes visible – that of Moses as it reminds us of that passage from Exodus 24 when Moses and Aaron go up the mountain covered with cloud and meet with God. These echoes are not just about mountains not just because these two prophets appear on the mountain with Jesus but also in the figure of Elijah himself in the passage from Kings

Where does this story come in the life of Elijah? “Elijah heroically opposed the subversion of Israel's authentic faith and called the nation to a decision, but the earthly life of this majestic prophet, the Moses of his generation, was coming to an end. Was the mission of Elijah also to end? How could Israel carry on without his great spirit?” Likewise Jesus has been calling the Israelites back to the spirit of God’s commandments to them and calling others to follow him in that mission. Just before this passage he has warned the disciples to “beware the yeast of the Pharisees” For Elisha and the disciples, it has been abundantly clear that the man they are following is out of the ordinary. The disciples have just seen a large crowd fed by a small amount of food and Elisha has seen Elijah, form a rod with his mantle and, with Moses-like authority and power, strike the water of the Jordan; he’d seen the water part; and walked across with Elijah on dry ground. Yet the stories we have here demonstrate even more clearly the special importance of Elijah and Jesus.

For each story the main character’s death is recounted as being soon. For Elijah this is frequently mentioned whereas for Jesus his own prediction of his death is just around the corner in following verses. Yet for both stories, the issue is that of succession. When Elijah and Jesus are gone, those with them in these stories are the successors of their spirit and their mission. In both cases the culmination of the story is painted in mystical terms. Elijah is surrounded by a whirlwind; Jesus is transformed into dazzling white. These are both ways of saying that something out of this world is going on. A genuine whirlwind would have made it near impossible for Elisha to see anything and similarly this washing powder advert dazzling whiteness motif is something more than a very clean robe! These stories both describe a day when heaven and earth, time and eternity, meet. When we get a glimpse of heaven. As Elijah is carried up to heaven, we hear Elisha calling after Elijah “Father, Father”. In Mark’s account, the voice we hear is, in some ways a response from God the Father, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

Other echoes are also to be heard. Elisha commits himself to following Elijah three times, and reading this alongside the transfiguration story makes me see the parallel with Peter and his promise to follow Jesus even to death. Of course here, a difference is apparent. Elisha loyally follows Elijah and receives his just reward – a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (a double portion being that which was traditionally inherited by the first born son not double what Elijah had but double what any other “son” would have). Peter’s promises are not so solid and that might be a disappointment but it is also a reassurance for us.

In the first story, Elisha seems the ideal and perfect disciple: The loyal servant and successor; A great example to follow. In the transfiguration story, the disciples are not so exemplary. Unlike Elisha who seems to know just how to act, Jesus’ disciples demonstrate a more human and familiar response. They are confused and don’t know what to do or say. Peter knows that something amazing is happening and tries to make the moment last forever – he wants to build a dwelling place for each of the great prophets. He wants them to stay there as they are. Yet this is not what this moment of transfiguration is about. Like Elisha before them, this transfiguration for Peter, James and John is the signalling moment that Jesus is indeed the Messiah – prefigured by Elijah and Moses and that they are to succeed Jesus with their ministry after him. The good news for us is that even they didn’t get it right all the time. Because of course this transfiguration story isn’t just to be read alongside the story of Elijah and Elisha but alongside our own stories too.

For all of us there need to be those times when we turn aside with Christ, when we are dazzled by his glory and made to feel special and that we are part of a great line of believers stretching back to Elijah and Moses. Yet these moments are not the place where we can build our homes. We can’t stay there and keep that experience in that place. We need to take that feeling and experience with us into our lives. We need to share that light. We also need to remember that we sometimes get it wrong but that we can return to that mountain each week in places like this church!

There may be places where you are trying too hard to restrict God in your life – to build a place for your faith to live in a controlled safe reassuring place. Where instead can you let Jesus take you to the mountain and dazzle you? And what is that bedazzling preparing you for? It might be somewhere you’re expecting but like the winding roads of the city which is the Bible, it might be something unexpected, just around the corner.

The readings for the morning were:

2 Kings 2:1-14
2Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.” 4Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. 5The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.” 6Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 7Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground. 9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 10He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” 11As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Mark 9:2-10 2
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. 9As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.

Preaching on John the Baptist take 5

You would have thought that having preached on John the Baptist no less than four times (which begins too look less than it did when I had been in ministry only five years now I've clocked up nearly ten!) that I would have a John the Baptist sermon for every eventuality but as it transpired the sermon I had forgotten to write for this morning (until yesterday afternoon) was on John the Baptist but NOT on the readings I had preached on before. So it was that the sermon below came into existence in only a couple of hours. I didn't have high hopes for it but in the end was rather pleased with it.

(readings below)
Our readings this morning talk to us a little about the Nature of God but rather more about what the nature of those who are called to follow him should be. This is apt as those words addressed to John the Baptist "What do you say about yourself?"

We heard about the Nature of God as light. As our Gospel reading said, John “came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” 

Light is an important part of Christmas - very much if the lights on one of the houses in my street are anything to go by - but also in the original Christmas story – the star leads the magi, we light a candle each Sunday on our advent wreath and of course, as we heard in the Gospel, Jesus coming into the world is described as light

You might think of that famous painting The Light of the World by William Holman Hunt with the figure of Christ knocking at a door – an old wooden door with no handle and with weeds growing up in front of it. It’s a beautiful painting rich with imagery – a fallen apple at Christ’s feet, his lamp cut with small stars looking much like a Christmas lantern his golden crown also interwoven with thorns. Hunt when asked said of the painting

"The closed door was the obstinately shut mind. The weeds the cumber of daily neglect, the accumulated hindrance of our spiritual idleness. ...It is the door of the human heart, and that can only be opened from the inside." 

Hopefully we are those who have had the courage to open that door and let the light of Christ into our lives. Because our readings today also talk about our role. Like John, We’re NOT the light but we’re here to show the light – a bit like a film or slide projector, projecting light onto the wall. The projector may be a very complicated piece of equipment – it may need special skill to set it up and get it just right but the projector is not the thing we want people to look at but the image it projects.

We, like John, need to testify to the light through our lives. We’re not saying we have to be perfect but the way we Christians live says something about the God we believe in. Paul was writing to the people at Thessalonica about how their lives should be shaped.

“to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.” 

I’ve been leading assemblies this week with our CE secondary school at Wolverley and talked to the students about the importance of peace in our faith and in many faiths – for us Christians it is so important that we make peace with each other every week. As I said to the students, this is because we as Christians don’t think we are perfect and we don’t always get it right but we try to be as good as we can be. And although it reads like Paul is expecting the Thessalonians to be perfect the fact that he also includes the words “Beloved, pray for us.” Shows us that he didn’t think he could manage to live up to his own words without the support of others. I think Paul’s list is one which encourages us to think about our attitude, about the way we look at life. It’s about having a positivity of life. Rather than letting the door to our heart get choked up with the weeds of worry, of bitterness, fear, hatred, anger. Giving in to those strangling weeds would make us like the poor characters in Narnia where it is Always winter but never Christmas. Paul urges us to “be patient... rejoice always... give thanks in all circumstances...do not quench the spirit”. This is a bid for a non cynical attitude, a positive outlook. We might think that there are some circumstances where there is nothing that we can give thanks for. With the world’s finances where they are and personal finances for many people giving concern, we might think it is all pretty bleak – how can there be any cause of thankfulness.

I found this idea challenging when I was in Peru last year. In a place where people had virtually nothing: No running water or sewerage, no prospect of work, little help from the government and yet in the midst of this we sang the Taizé chant Nada te turbe: Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you, God alone is enough We heard a sermon about how perfect love casts out fear and the priest then gave an encouragement for even those in the poorest part of the city to show charity with the words who is so poor that they cannot afford to give their neighbour a cup of tea or help move rocks from outside their house?

This incredibly positive attitude reminded me of a story I once heard in Taizé of a group of Christians in Eastern Europe who were imprisoned in a camp during the communist regime of the USSR. One day they found a blackberry growing through the fence and one of them suggested that the person who counted the most blessings in that day would get the small piece of fruit. The next evening, people in this horrible environment came together with dozens of blessings including moments of wonder at creation and small kindnesses they had been shown by others. These lists of blessings encouraged them all in the toughest time.

I think Paul’s message to the Thessalonians and to us is not that we need to make a great show of our lives. We’re NOT the light but here to testify to the light. We don’t need to do that in a blaze of glory but in our own way. In giving up your seat to someone laden down with bags, to letting a car out at a junction, to smiling at someone, stopping for a cup of tea and a chat with someone who doesn’t get listened to, making a small contribution to St Mary’s breakfast club or to a homeless charity for or buying a gift for the Shuttle’s Christmas Gift Appeal.

What do you say about yourself?

As Desmond Tutu has said:

“Do your little bit of good where you are;

it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world”

So where in all the preparations for Christmas are you letting the light shine through your life?

What little bits of Good can you remember to do so that together we can all overwhelm the world with light?

The readings were:

John 1:6-28 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. 19This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. 24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 12But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labour among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; 13esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. 15See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not despise the words of prophets, 21but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22abstain from every form of evil. 23May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. 25Beloved, pray for us. 26Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them. 28The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Sermon at Malvern Priory

Just back from Malvern where I was presenting a Worcester Spirit Mark Bronze Award (a sign that the church is welcoming to children and young people) as well as preaching and running some creative prayers. It was a great morning and the text of the sermon is below. As they are fully digitized you can also have a listen when they pop it up on the website here. The text was Matthew 15 21-28 Jesus and the Canaanite woman who asks for her daughter to be healed and FOR ONCE I did what we always joked about in training for preaching - I began with an anecdote about a dog!

It might be useful to know that I took a stuff "puppy" toy with me but this picture of Peggy should pretty much have the same effect!

This is our dog Peggy. She is a bouncy frolicking dog who bounds up to people she’s never met and gets very excited when she sees people she has met and yet when we sit down to a meal she is a model of good behaviour – sitting perfectly with eyes that say “I’m the best behaved dog in all the world” as she watches eagerly to see if anybody drops a tiny bit of food on the floor and then she rushes in to gobble it up. When our nieces who are 4 and 1 are at the table Peggy thinks that the little one is her best friend in all the world as she is very good at dropping food. Even though Peggy knows that she gets a lovely bowl of dog food after we’ve finished eating every evening, she still waits for those little crumbs that fall like a dog that gets no other food
In our gospel today this image of the dog sitting under the table waiting for the scraps is used in rather a shocking way. What’s most shocking is that it’s Jesus who seems to be referring to this woman as like a dog “It’s not right to take the children’s food and feed it to the dogs” on the surface I’m sure many of us would agree with that statement but Jesus is not just talking about children and dogs. The conversation with this woman is about the preconceptions, the prejudices that were around in those days that Jewish people and Jewish Rabbis would not waste their time on non Jews they only looked after their own and, out of character for Jesus, he seems to take this position saying in effect you’re not one of us so I’m not helping you but of course he doesn’t mean what he says instead he’s testing out the prejudice of the woman and those around him – even of his disciples. He is bringing all this prejudice into the light. Jesus’ message at the end of this passage and throughout the Gospels is clear – his love is freely offered for all. Jesus calls us to love our neighbours, to love our enemies even. God’s love is for all – not just for the Jews and that’s still true – God’s love is not just for those who are “in” – who go to church regularly, who call themselves Christians but for all people. That’s why it’s so wonderful to have people here together – some who have been to this church every Sunday for many years some who have been only a few times and some who are here for the first time. ALL of us part of God’s family. As we know family is about so much more than the people we are related to and the baptism today is all about family. Baby X has got new Godparents and more than that has been welcomed into the family of the church, into God’s family – a family that welcomes and loves everyone – all those who are in the church, those who have only stepped into this church for the first or second time today and those who have never been in this or any church.

I’m sure none of us this week have missed hearing about the violence in the streets of many of our cities. Many of us may have been tempted to call the young people involved “dogs” or worse perhaps and yet Jesus’ message today says that even these unlovely and unloved dispossessed looters are offered God’s love. This is not to say that their actions are anything but wholly unacceptable that their behaviour is excusable but it IS forgiveable as God’s love is about forgiveness – as tough as forgiving people can be. The reasons for their disaffection to society to those they call rich to those they see as sitting at the table eating a fine meal while they search for the scraps. What love have these young people received? What faith do they have in the authorities or for some in their families? What hope do they have for their future with youth unemployment at 19.7 per cent (Labour market statistics July 2011 issued by Office for National Statistics) with university fees set to be so high many will see them as unaffordable and with house prices rising so much that they will never be able to own their own home.

None of this excuses their actions – many other young people are in similar circumstances and are NOT rioting or looting but still facing tough times. Young people I know were condemning the violence on Facebook, others were in Birmingham and elsewhere helping with the clear up. Churches too were showing that like Jesus with the Canaanite women they are giving more than crumbs to those young people who no-one else cares for – Street Pastors and youth workers have been out helping to talk to and listen to young people in London, Birmingham, Manchester and in other places affected.

What is there that we can do to build up community? How can we be sure that everyone comes to the table and is welcomed to join in the feast? So that no-one is left to scrabble for the crumbs? This church does a great deal to welcome children and young people but this is not something which is achieved and then ticked off the list. Like this baptism today, it is not a one off event but the beginning of a lifetime as part of the family of God. How are you building up that family as a church and Where in your life do you see opportunities to show God’s love to those that feel unloved? Or to put it another way – who in your lie deserves more than just the crumbs?

The Call comes in the Midst of Life

With some heavy borrowing from Rob Bell's Nooma Dust, my sermon as intended for tomorrow! May change over breakfast of course and mostprobably at the pulpit/lectern as usual!

The Call comes to you in the midst of life
The Call comes to you in the midst of life
The Call comes to you in the midst of life

In today’s gospel we hear about Jesus call to his disciples to follow him. He walks by the sea of Galilee and seeing peter and Andrew and James and John he says “Follow me” Nowadays we have far more complex recruitment processes of adverts and parish profiles, application forms and interviews and references. Jesus However walks past and says “Follow me” sounds rather unprofessional really. Actually his words are not as simple and ordinary as you might expect. These were the words with which a Rabbi would traditionally call someone to be their disciple.
(from Rob Bell's Nooma Dust)

Education was huge in Jesus' day, and the system that Jesus would have probably grown up in and learned from was very specific. Jewish education was made up of three primary sections: Bet Safar,Bet Talmud & Bet Midrash
Bet Safar: Usually from the ages five to ten, it was a time taught in the synagogue by the Rabbi. During this time, good Jewish boys memorized the Torah - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – the first five books of our Old Testament memorized by the age of ten.
Bet Talmud: Progressing on from Bet Safar, it continues from the age of ten on to fourteen. During this time, the student would continue his memorization of the Psalms, prophets, and the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). It wasn't uncommon in that day for a good Jewish boy to have the Old Testament memorized by the age of fourteen. The student would also during this time begin to learn the art of questions and answers. In our western civilization today, we are into information transfer, but in those days, answering a question wasn't quite as direct. A rabbi might ask a student what is two plus two? Today, we would spout off the answer of four. But back then when a Rabbi would ask what two plus two was, a student might answer with, "What is the square root of sixteen?" This not only told the Rabbi that the student heard and understood the question, but was able to process it and respond with a question of his own. So you see, when we find Jesus in the temple at the age of twelve (Luke 2), we find him doing just what a boy of his age would be doing, questions and answers with the elders.
Bet Midrash: At the age of fourteen, the best of the best would continue to apply oral and written law from the Talmud, the Mishna (the earliest oral version of the Talmud), and years and years of commentary on the scriptures. Each Rabbi would have their own interpretation of how to live out the Torah. You see, you have the law itself and then the Rabbi's interpretation of the rules required to obey the law. The Rabbi's rules were called his yoke. When you studied under a Rabbi, you took his yoke upon you. But Jesus came and said His yoke was easy. That He isn't about endless lists of rules and regulations (Matthew 11). If we understand this we see that, when Jesus is speaking, He's not just picking words out of the air; He's speaking as a Rabbi would.
So, at the age of fourteen, the best of the best, the Oxford and Cambridge of the Jewish boys took another step. All Jewish boys wanted to be Rabbis, because teachers were the most respected people of the day. At fourteen, the Oxford and Cambridge would approach a Rabbi and request to become his disciple. The Rabbi would then quiz the boy. If the Rabbi quizzed you and determined that you were good enough, that you were indeed the Oxford and Cambridge, he would say, "Come, follow me, take my yoke upon you and become my disciple." And at that time, the boy would leave everything, (home, mother, father, synagogue, community…) and devote his entire life to being just like the Rabbi.
Now there is always the possibility that the Rabbi might decide while quizzing you that you are not the Oxford and Cambridge. He would say, "Obviously, you know Torah, but you don't have what it takes to be just like me. Go, have children, pray that they become Rabbis, and ply your trade." Go learn the family business and live a good life that your sons may grow up to be better than you. And that brings us back to the text,
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers; Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. What were they??? Fisherman…Why? Because they didn't make the cut! A Rabbi had probably told them they weren't the best of the best, and sent them to "ply their trade". Jesus goes to the losers and rejects and calls them! "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
Now, how many of you, honestly will say that this has never made sense to you?
But that is what happened! There is no more. Nothing is missing. The author didn't leave anything out. You see, Jesus was a Rabbi! He is calling disciples! He thinks they are good enough, even though others did not. He's giving them a chance to fulfil their dream.

The Call comes to you in the midst of life
The Call comes to you in the midst of life

And the place where Jesus meets these disciples is not some specialist disciple recruitment centre or even the job centre plus. These men are going about their normal lives. To hear God’s call doesn’t require you to go out of your way. God’s call comes in the midst of life. In fact, it often comes when you are doing something at which you are talented, skilled or gifted. God sees your gift and calls you to use it for the kingdom, not just for your work. It might be that you spend a lot of time organising things or listening to people and God calls you to put those skills to organising a charity event, or listening not just to customers but to those in need of a listening ear and maybe even a shoulder to cry on. It might be that you have fabulous skills in finances or sewing or carpentry and God calls you to help as a church treasurer or run a project helping teenage mums to craft clothes for their children or fix up the cloakrooms in the local school. These skills might not be simply your work skills but the things you take so for granted; the gift of hospitality of baking of smiling and being friendly. All these things can be the root of God’s call to you.

The Call comes to you in the midst of life
The Call comes to you in the midst of life

I know in the church we can often think that there are those who have a calling to ministry in the church and the rest of us just have jobs or tasks but it is so not the case and making that clear is exactly what Jesus was doing by calling the unlikely candidates such as Fishermen, a tax collector like Matthew, a doubter like Thomas and a zealot quasi terrorists like Judas Iscariot. Jesus was showing that the call can come to everyone. It’s not just about the Pharisees and all their rules but about each and every human being listening to where God is calling them and following. Paul in his letter reinforces this. The message of Christ doesn’t come “with eloquent wisdom,” but simply and with truth so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. Jesus deliberately didn’t call the usual suspects as he didn’t want to replicate the law driven religion of the Pharisees. He wanted real people and so he called real people who would not be caught up in philosophical arguments but would tell the Good News. As Paul says For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. In a climate when, increasingly the church is mocked by comedians and by newspapers, this concept is more than clear. The message of the cross can seem like foolishness, passed on by the ones who didn’t make the cut to follow the best Rabbi but Jesus teaching is not about SUCCESS but about love so his call doesn’t go out only to the top notch people but to each and every one of us. We’re not following after different Rabbis as Paul says it’s not about “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” but we all follow Jesus
I suppose the question is how does the call come? How can we her it? For some it is a clear and blinding as it was for Paul on the Road to Damascus and as daunting and clear as the call to Ananias who healed Paul’s blindness – putting himself in the path of the man who had been campaigning for the death of Christians. I have known friends who have woken one morning with words clear in their mind, calling them to somewhere. It might come in the guidance from friends, from reading scripture, from the revelation of a glorious experience of God’s creation. It might come through our own prayer or be shown through the prayer of others. For others, the call creeps up on us. Sometimes, in fact, we don’t see it until we look back and see our footprints with God’s walking alongside.
From my own life I remember frustration at two points in my life when I didn’t see it until later. Both times, I was still where had been for some time and really felt I should have moved on – I felt that God was calling me on to new things but I hadn’t yet reached them.

(personal story)

I’m sure Peter James, Andrew and John didn’t think they wanted to be hauling nets but off with some great Rabbi and yet there they were – where they needed to be, in the midst of their regular life, so that Jesus could walk by and call “Follow me”

Where are you working at your nets?

Where will Jesus come to call you?

How will you respond?

The Call comes to you in the midst of life
The Call comes to you in the midst of life
The Call comes to you in the midst of life

The texts for this morning:
Matthew 4:12-23
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Sermon 1st August

As it's Lamas day (historically the day of the first harvest) it's very apt to have this reading about a man harvesting his crops and filling his barns and then makingplans to make bigger barns to putall the rest in.

Our lives can be a bitlike that too. We can fill our lives up with things like shoes, dvds, books, cars, houses a bigger house and what does it get us?

(demo with rocket balloon which gets filled and filled with things- it wasmeant to fill up and then fly aroudn the church but instead it burst - which ended up being far more dramatic!!)

I’ve got a friend who likes to have all the new gadgets. First it was the ipod shuffle and then he wanted more storage so he got the ipod nano then it was the ipod touch the ipod itself and now of course he wants an ipad – with as the advert says “more books than you can read in a lifetime”. There is a desire in each of us to accumulate more and more STUFF. Just like the foolishman in the gospel reading, we can focus on all the STUFF in our life on the storage of our music on our ipod, on our cars or houses, new plants for our garden, new shoes, new books ( a personal downfall!) or just more money. What is it about all this gathering of possessions that drives us so much?
“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions”
This need for the status symbol, I think is about our need to feel that we are important. We want these things because somehow we don’t feel that we are important enough without them. I remember the terror of the teenage angst that no-one would like us if we didn’t wear the right trainers or listen to the right music but as adults are we much better?

This desire to accumulate is not of God yet not because the objects themselves are inherently wrong. A car may be a status symbol for some but for others it is a vital method of transport. For sportsmen the right shoes matter a great deal. The right plants give us food and medicine. The books give us knowledge and the music on our ipods inspiration. These things are not inherently wrong but if we have a burning NEED for them it is. Such a need is not of God. It is something which goes against God’s view of each of us. God doesn’t think we NEED these things to make us important. God think every single one of us is important already.

Some of the most beautiful things in the world are natural: a peacock feather, a rainbow, a child’s laughter (as Michael and I heard a lot yesterday watching our 3 year old niece play with our dog). You can’t possess such things. Yet of course all of these things that we do desire come from God’s creation – some with a bit more human intervention than others. If perhaps we view creation from God’s point of view we might see it differently. He gave us an earth abundant in strong resilient metals like God and silver yet we chase after it for its “value” when it’s real worth is something else. There is abundant food across the earth and yet some have so much choice and others so little.

I’m going to Peru this week as part of the diocesan group. (and I need to take photos of my church to show them - so while I'm up here nad you're all sitting there whereyou can't move *click* and the choir too! *click*)

In Peru we’ll see real deprivation. Of the 29 Million population 45 % live below the poverty line. Some of you may have seen the news on the BBC website (though I’m sure many will not as it’s not made the front page) that 400 people have died in the mountains in Peru so far this winter because of the severe cold at night – temperatures of -240C. We’ll be going to the pueblos jovenes the young towns areas where people from the country travel into the city and build whatever they can wherever they can: Where water is delivered every fortnight not every time you turn on the tap. Where, perhaps people are more able to value what they can do not what they possess. In some ways perhaps they are rich and we are poor; Rich in hope; Rich in faith despite it all.

This need we have for material things is not of Christ as Paul tells us “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Now I don’t think Jesus or Paul are saying we should possess nothing at all rather that we should be modest in what we do possess. Yet it is more than that. It is not a mere absence of possessions but a focus of the mind not on things earthly but on things heavenly. Jesus said: “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” This is not a call to sell all you have (though Jesus did suggest that for some!) but to be focussed properly on God not on Money –render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and to God that which belongs to God as Jesus said another time.
What does this change of focus look like?

Remember where this story begins. A man asks Jesus to MAKE his brother share his inheritance with him. Is Jesus saying that the man should be focussed more on the matters heavenly – on their shared bereavement; on the bond of family; on their faith in God rather than on the financial resources of a deceased parent.

As Paul’s letter shows this is not just all about material possessions but also about the status associated with them and all that that might imply. It is not about being rich or poor, slave or free Jew or Greek anymore. NONE of these things are what we should be focussed on. Rather our focus should be on Christ. I don’t know how many of you have access to the internet but the Diocese of Oxford has put up a marvellous pair of videos encouraging people to see God in their lives in all kinds of places not just in church. To FOCUS themselves on Christ through what might be thought to be non-holy activities. The film shows a choir singing, a woman gardening, a grandmother making Jam with her grandchildren, a man leading life drawing class on behalf of a church. Notice all of these things involve some form of creativity; Of joining God in the delight of creation. I hope some of you might get a chance to go to their diocesan website and have a look.

Yet it’s not only about focussing on God in our lives but because of that focus, changing the way we interact with others. As St Paul writes.
“you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.
That new self is available to each of us. And when it becomes hard to live up to that standard; When we find ourselves getting angry or malicious, that is not the end of that new self, no. Paul says that new self “is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.”
So we can turn away from focussing on possessions, we can turn to God our creator and meet with him in all kinds of mini acts of creation, we can act towards each other in a way that is Christ-like and yet if we fail to do so that is not the end because there is always the chance of renewal; Of repentance and a new beginning.

In a possession focussed world, there is no such renewal. Oh there are new things – always new things we can chase after and desire but the possession of those things will never give us satisfaction. Such completion only comes in turning to our God and focussing our lives on following Christ in spirit and in truth

Readings for the Day:

Luke 12:13-21
13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Colossians 3:1-11
3So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
5Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.
8But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!