Sermon for July 2009 (1 Kings 2 10-12, 3 3-14 and John 6 51-58)
A great professor was doing a tour of the country. His driver enjoyed listening to each lecture he gave. After a while he knew not ony the lectures by heart but even the answers to the questions that would arise after wards. So as a joke they chose to swap places, the driver giving the lecture. Came question time the driver answered easily enough until one person asked a new question that neither had heard before. For a moment the driver panicked. Then a broad smile spread across his lips: ‘Why, that’s so simple I’ll ask my driver to explain’
If God granted you one wish for yourself - not for anyone else, your family, the England Cricket Team, or world but just for yourself, what would that wish be?
Solomon was in that enviable position. He had come to the throne of Israel after his father, David, had died. David, who had weathered a very complicated life, had chosen Solomon over his oldest, extremely ambitious, and cunning son, Adonijah, and other possible pretenders who might try to usurp power after his death. David had ruled the nation for forty years and been, mainly, a much loved and respected figure with most of the people. The people were anxious that this new and very young king and what the future would bring. Solomon began by offering sacrifices showing his love for God. So, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream - a good lesson to always pay attention to your dreams - and asked him what he desired most. Solomon could choose. He did not ask for a long life or riches or for the death of his enemies. He asked instead for the one quality he needed to rule with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. He asked God for wisdom. Solomon chose wisely. In response God promised him more wisdom and understanding than anyone ever had before or will ever have again AND the blessings he had not asked for - long life, wealth, and honour. Right after this dream Solomon issued his wise judgment in the famous case of the two women arguing about who was the true mother of a baby. Through much of Solomon's reign, included the building of the Jerusalem temple and peace in the region, Israel experienced a true golden age.
Wisdom is one of God's gifts. It is to know and choose to work for justice and to know the difference between good and evil. It was so important to the Hebrews and the early Christians that the word and its derivatives are used 216 times throughout the Bible. It is a recurring theme amonst the prophets, and in all of Jesus' teachings. The word Wisdom implies intellectual knowledge, the discernment of the extraordinary in the ordinary, empathy for the experiences of others, and good, old-fashioned common sense behind such sayings as that of Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanac: "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." But wisdom must also be exemplified by acting justly and knowing the difference between good and evil. I am certain that most of us seek wisdom in all sorts of ways self-help books, like myself reading a book on healthy diets in Borders in Birmingham on my day off, from advice columnists, perhaps from different kinds of therapists, in social conversation, from Oprah Winfrey, perhaps the internet. We look to sources we can trust. I suggest that the best source is God.
That is why it is vital to pray and ask for God's help before making any major decision. That is why we open church meetings with prayer. Faith and wisdom act as partners, and we cannot easily have one without the other. The Book of Proverbs, that King Solomon and his scribes wrote and collated, begins with this relationship.
In verse seven of the first chapter we read, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; fools despise wisdom and instruction." In fact it goes further than that, for many read into the Wisdom described in the first few chapters of Proverbs a manifestation of God; interestingly it’s a female noun, and many feminists argue from this for a more balanced view of God, the Logos, the word of God, in the Hebrew Testament, the Bread of life to sustain us in our everyday decisions.
In asking for wisdom, implicitly we are asking to be shown us how to act compassionately and justly toward others, discerning right from wrong in everyday situations, seeking to make godly decisions and to follow them through. That can be at home in our families, in our streets with those we live near, in our town, our work, who we vote for, what we lobby for. Our world needs to embrace wisdom instead of seeking fame and fortune, physical beauty, and military might. It is, amongst other things choosing sensible banking systems and filling in claims forms honestly.
To seek wisdom is to have the faith to rely on God and to let go of our own personal desires, to act justly toward others and not worry too much about our of our needs, to know the difference between good and evil and realize the consequences our actions ahead of the actions. Our lifestyle choices today will affect our children and grandchildren which is why I bought a smaller car to drive around in and recycle all I can. We seek wisdom through prayer, by reading and really understanding the work of Jesus Christ on earth; his continual challenging of oppressive powers, of siding witrh the marginalised, lifting up the lowly. We seek wisdom directly also through that incredibly subtle guidance, the nudges, the quiet inspiration, of the Holy Spirit.
Often we find wisdom by learning from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. And we always find wisdom through seeking the God who created us and loves us, always with us, and God’s rule on earth. That is what Solomon chose as more important than anything, fame, power, wealth. But there is a warning in the story of Solomon. Later in his life, his wealth and power seemed to go to his head and he lost his focus on God; he began to worship other gods, developed a colossal harem in his vanity and oppressed his people. Perhaps the greatest wisdom of all is the humility to keep on asking for wisdom throughout our lives, including today.
Saturday, 19 September 2009
The Generousity of God
Andy’s Final Sermon: 26th July 2009 (Ephesians 3:14-21, John 6:1-21)
Little Johnny was telling his mother about Sunday school "Boy," he exclaimed Johnny "that story of Moses and all those people crossing the Red Sea was something!" "Tell me all about it," said his mother. "Well, the Israelites got out of Egypt, but Pharaoh and his army chased after them. But the Jews outran them to the Red Sea. The Egyptian Army closed in. So Moses got on his mobile and told the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Egyptians. While that was happening, the Israeli Navy built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross over. They made it!" The woman was shocked, and asked, "Is that the way they taught you the story?" "Well… really" admitted Johnny, "but if I told you the way they told it to us, you'd never believe it, Mum". And the same variation on the story might have applied to feeding 5000?
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord is the commission to all I give at the end of this service. How we do that, and why, is what this sermon is all about. Todays’ readings show us both how and why. In the Gospel reading Jesus turns someone’s lunchbox into a party for thousands with baskets of food left over. An amazing miracle, but it also points to how we care for others, a generosity reflecting Jesus’ – the ‘How?’ The first reading is Saint Paul praying a blessing on the church at Ephesus in their ministry. I pray the same for you on yours, whether your ministry is at St Luke’s or elsewhere. That’s the ‘Why?’
First, HOW? The Gospel reading is a miracle in it’s own right but it’s more than that. It reveals a greater love for God even than for the crowd. Numbers have greater significance in Hebrew thought than in our own, they mean something. 5 and 12 relate to the Jewish people i.e. 5 books in the history of Isarel before they entered the ‘Promised Land’ or 12 – the number of tribes of Israel. And the baskets used were Jewish baskets. This is the first of two such miracles. In this, 5000 (men) are fed, as well as their families, and 12 baskets are filled. In the second feeding (Matt. 15: 32-39, Mark 8:1-10), the numbers change, 4000 men (+families), 7 gentile baskets , the numbers 4 and 7 significant in relation to gentiles. Both feedings genuinely respond to a practical need, but there is this significance in the numbers which Jesus makes clear in Mark 8:14-21. The miracles a clear statement of intent. Jesus had come first to the the Jews as the ‘people of God’, but his ministry was preparing the way for a greater ministry to the Gentiles. He starts locally, but goes out beyond - the greater generosity of God, to all people; the ‘How?’
It sets a pattern for us. We begin where we are, with those around us. We learn to love them practically, - our families (often the hardest) our neighbours, those in our churches, those at work. It’s only after that do we look wider. Any who are called into ministry eslehwere must first be seen to do, and want to do, ministry where they are; as we share love with those around us we then learn to go wider to share with those beyond our close circle. In the Autumn, for instance, St Luke’s will be linking with St Paul’s, sharing more, not least a Vicar. That process has already begun and links are being made. Some of you are getting involved in the Deanery and seeing the need to work together to minister to the needs of Walsall. Some of you, like Richard, are already involved in the wider community of the church. Others of you minister through your work, or through neighbourhood groups, or your home. So we come to church to receive, in order to go out to minister. How do we minister? – in the generosity of Christ himself.
Second, WHY? What do expect to receive? What might you receive? Paul prays this blessing for the Ephesians – and for all who follow Christ – including us. What does Paul tell us we might receive from God, beyond what we already do receive? Paul tells us we are ‘being strengthened in our inner being’. That has a lot do with being still with Christ. I love the buzz at the beginning of services as people greet each other, but we also need some stillness just to receive from Christ, to experience him directly. Paul prays that we are ‘rooted and grounded in love’.
Before we can give, we must first receive. Before we can love, we must first be loved. We are rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, his mercy and his compassion we read about again and again in the Bible. See how Jesus reacts to other people; that is the love God has for us. When we struggle, God struggles with us, when we suffer, God weeps with us; when we rejoice, heaven joins in! That way, Paul says, we can begin to understand the ‘breadth and length and height’ of the love of God. I say begin; our lifetimes are not enough to understand the full extent of that love- the love of Christ that ‘surpasses understanding’. Make space to go on retreat – keep Sunday special for you, in order that the rest of the week becomes special for others, through you.
Both readings speak of the great generosity of God, which breaks down barriers and reaches out to people unlike ourselves. It’s a generosity that welcomed a Londoner as your Vicar 14 years ago. It’s a generosity that means minimising business so that our ministry in all its forms can continue for the sake of the wider community. And I’m sure that generosity will also apply to Mark Kinder. Our generosity comes from this incredible generosity of God, which we need to come back to find, Sunday by Sunday, to experience the love of God, so that we have the resources to go back intot he world with the love of God, and to help others see it too. Why do we minister? Because God first ministers, in love, to us.
Go in Peace to love and serve the Lord. How and Why? How?In the generosity of God. Why? God has loved us first and calls us to share with that same gnerosity. I leave today but our ministries will continue. My prayer today is that your ministry will continue to share that amazing generosity of God with all those you are involved with now, and many you have yet to meet. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord – Go in his generosity – and go in his love & peace. That is my prayer for you in your ministry in Walsall.
Little Johnny was telling his mother about Sunday school "Boy," he exclaimed Johnny "that story of Moses and all those people crossing the Red Sea was something!" "Tell me all about it," said his mother. "Well, the Israelites got out of Egypt, but Pharaoh and his army chased after them. But the Jews outran them to the Red Sea. The Egyptian Army closed in. So Moses got on his mobile and told the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Egyptians. While that was happening, the Israeli Navy built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross over. They made it!" The woman was shocked, and asked, "Is that the way they taught you the story?" "Well… really" admitted Johnny, "but if I told you the way they told it to us, you'd never believe it, Mum". And the same variation on the story might have applied to feeding 5000?
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord is the commission to all I give at the end of this service. How we do that, and why, is what this sermon is all about. Todays’ readings show us both how and why. In the Gospel reading Jesus turns someone’s lunchbox into a party for thousands with baskets of food left over. An amazing miracle, but it also points to how we care for others, a generosity reflecting Jesus’ – the ‘How?’ The first reading is Saint Paul praying a blessing on the church at Ephesus in their ministry. I pray the same for you on yours, whether your ministry is at St Luke’s or elsewhere. That’s the ‘Why?’
First, HOW? The Gospel reading is a miracle in it’s own right but it’s more than that. It reveals a greater love for God even than for the crowd. Numbers have greater significance in Hebrew thought than in our own, they mean something. 5 and 12 relate to the Jewish people i.e. 5 books in the history of Isarel before they entered the ‘Promised Land’ or 12 – the number of tribes of Israel. And the baskets used were Jewish baskets. This is the first of two such miracles. In this, 5000 (men) are fed, as well as their families, and 12 baskets are filled. In the second feeding (Matt. 15: 32-39, Mark 8:1-10), the numbers change, 4000 men (+families), 7 gentile baskets , the numbers 4 and 7 significant in relation to gentiles. Both feedings genuinely respond to a practical need, but there is this significance in the numbers which Jesus makes clear in Mark 8:14-21. The miracles a clear statement of intent. Jesus had come first to the the Jews as the ‘people of God’, but his ministry was preparing the way for a greater ministry to the Gentiles. He starts locally, but goes out beyond - the greater generosity of God, to all people; the ‘How?’
It sets a pattern for us. We begin where we are, with those around us. We learn to love them practically, - our families (often the hardest) our neighbours, those in our churches, those at work. It’s only after that do we look wider. Any who are called into ministry eslehwere must first be seen to do, and want to do, ministry where they are; as we share love with those around us we then learn to go wider to share with those beyond our close circle. In the Autumn, for instance, St Luke’s will be linking with St Paul’s, sharing more, not least a Vicar. That process has already begun and links are being made. Some of you are getting involved in the Deanery and seeing the need to work together to minister to the needs of Walsall. Some of you, like Richard, are already involved in the wider community of the church. Others of you minister through your work, or through neighbourhood groups, or your home. So we come to church to receive, in order to go out to minister. How do we minister? – in the generosity of Christ himself.
Second, WHY? What do expect to receive? What might you receive? Paul prays this blessing for the Ephesians – and for all who follow Christ – including us. What does Paul tell us we might receive from God, beyond what we already do receive? Paul tells us we are ‘being strengthened in our inner being’. That has a lot do with being still with Christ. I love the buzz at the beginning of services as people greet each other, but we also need some stillness just to receive from Christ, to experience him directly. Paul prays that we are ‘rooted and grounded in love’.
Before we can give, we must first receive. Before we can love, we must first be loved. We are rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, his mercy and his compassion we read about again and again in the Bible. See how Jesus reacts to other people; that is the love God has for us. When we struggle, God struggles with us, when we suffer, God weeps with us; when we rejoice, heaven joins in! That way, Paul says, we can begin to understand the ‘breadth and length and height’ of the love of God. I say begin; our lifetimes are not enough to understand the full extent of that love- the love of Christ that ‘surpasses understanding’. Make space to go on retreat – keep Sunday special for you, in order that the rest of the week becomes special for others, through you.
Both readings speak of the great generosity of God, which breaks down barriers and reaches out to people unlike ourselves. It’s a generosity that welcomed a Londoner as your Vicar 14 years ago. It’s a generosity that means minimising business so that our ministry in all its forms can continue for the sake of the wider community. And I’m sure that generosity will also apply to Mark Kinder. Our generosity comes from this incredible generosity of God, which we need to come back to find, Sunday by Sunday, to experience the love of God, so that we have the resources to go back intot he world with the love of God, and to help others see it too. Why do we minister? Because God first ministers, in love, to us.
Go in Peace to love and serve the Lord. How and Why? How?In the generosity of God. Why? God has loved us first and calls us to share with that same gnerosity. I leave today but our ministries will continue. My prayer today is that your ministry will continue to share that amazing generosity of God with all those you are involved with now, and many you have yet to meet. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord – Go in his generosity – and go in his love & peace. That is my prayer for you in your ministry in Walsall.
Water into Wine?
Sermon for 7th June 2009 (Isaiah 6:1-8; John 3:1-17)
A clergyman is driving to London when he gets stopped for speeding. The policeman smells alcohol on his breath, and notices an empty wine bottle on the passenger seat, and asks "Sir, have you been drinking?" The vicar replies, "Only water officer". The policeman asks, "Could you explain the smell of wine in this car, Sir?" The vicar looks down at the bottle and says, "Good Lord, he's done it again!"
Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday, the Sunday we set aside to try, again, to explain this incredible truth that God is three and God is one. Hard ‘though it is to understand, what we understand about the nature of the Trinity will affect how we act as Christians. If we believed in a warlike God, we would be warlike ourselves. If we see God as judgmental, we too, will be judgmental. Down the ages people have struggled with this notion. Some have rejected it altogether with disastrous consequences. One early theologian, who we now call a heretic, called Markion, believed that there was not one God but two, one angry judgmental God for the Old Testament period, and one loving, gentle one that became visible in Jesus, the new kicking out the old. A century or so later along came a North African theologian called Arius who believed in one God but not in the Trinity and used to write choruses along the lines of ‘There really only is one God…’ Perhaps influenced by Arius’ ideas, along came Mohammed three centuries later and rejected Christianity almost completely starting a new religion where there is only one God, making Jesus just a prophet, albeit the second greatest, after himself. Ironically the institutionalized church reacted not by sending loving missionaries to re-convert the Arab world but crusaders. So what we believe about the Trinity matters.
Given that, at first these readings may seem strange choices of readings for Trinity Sunday. After all neither mentions the Trinity, but then you will not find the word ‘Trinity' anywhere in the Bible, and you have to look pretty hard to find the Trinity in these readings. The first is about a prophet kissing a burning coal, the second about the patron saint of moths. The first is about Isaiah’s call from God. The coal-kissing comes in a vision Isaiah has of God as God commissions him. Where is the Trinity in this reading? It is implied only: ‘Who will go for us?’ asks God. God is not speaking about himself or herself and the angels, but about God’s-self as plurality, as more than one, as community.
In the second reading, Nicodemus shows himself to be the patron saint of moths; he only come out at night and is he drawn to the Light. Where is the Trinity in this? Jesus just assumes it. He talks of the Spirit blowing where she wills, giving literal and spiritual life to those she wills. It is she who allows people to be ‘born again’ into the kingdom of God. And what draws people to God, the love of the Father, seen in the love of the Son: God so loved the world that he sent his only Son…’. The Trinity as a word is never used in the Bible but it is assumed from beginning to end. So what is this Trinity is like? What is our model?
Firstly God is community, as implied in the Isaiah reading. In Rublev’s icon, Rublev brilliantly paints the Trinity, as recognisably similar, of the same family, but different, and he does so not in the usual slightly hard-edged masculine image but a gentler, kinder, more feminine style. The three share a space; they are together and separate; co-dependant, but acting freely. If we understand the Trinity, then we realise that we, too, have been given to each other, recognisably similar, of one family, but different, bringing different gifts and personalities to make us whole. God as community means ‘The Peace’ and Coffee-after-church are as important as the sermon or communion. It’s about sharing a common life.
Second, the Trinity is generosity. There is no competition here. The Father looks at the Son, who looks to the Spirit who looks to the Father. None is above the others. All commend each other. Each is gift to the others. Our churches should be like that. There is no competition here, for space, for position. Each should be looking to see in what ways we can give to the others, sharing what we have, or money, our time, our energy, our cars, our homes, for the sake of others in our churches. God is generosity.
Finally, God is love (1 John 4: 16). The three persons of the godhead are more than just generous towards each other. Each loves, without measure, the others. In Rublev’s icon, each look towards the others, with love. Even their bodies are turned towards each other. In the church it not enough that we do not gossip about each other or hurt each other in other ways. We are called beyond community which rubs alongside each other, beyond mere generosity, but called to value each other and love each other, not for what we can get from other people, but what we can share with them, and for each person in themselves. Yesterday Mike Mitton told a story of an old lady in his church who loves ‘Matins’ but in his church things are rather more relaxed than that; not her style. Mike asked her how she felt about that. “It’s not my style but you brought love to this church”. That is true of God; it should be true of us, as well.
Not surprisingly his tiny little church in Derby has grown. As we learn to love, so will this church again.
A clergyman is driving to London when he gets stopped for speeding. The policeman smells alcohol on his breath, and notices an empty wine bottle on the passenger seat, and asks "Sir, have you been drinking?" The vicar replies, "Only water officer". The policeman asks, "Could you explain the smell of wine in this car, Sir?" The vicar looks down at the bottle and says, "Good Lord, he's done it again!"
Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday, the Sunday we set aside to try, again, to explain this incredible truth that God is three and God is one. Hard ‘though it is to understand, what we understand about the nature of the Trinity will affect how we act as Christians. If we believed in a warlike God, we would be warlike ourselves. If we see God as judgmental, we too, will be judgmental. Down the ages people have struggled with this notion. Some have rejected it altogether with disastrous consequences. One early theologian, who we now call a heretic, called Markion, believed that there was not one God but two, one angry judgmental God for the Old Testament period, and one loving, gentle one that became visible in Jesus, the new kicking out the old. A century or so later along came a North African theologian called Arius who believed in one God but not in the Trinity and used to write choruses along the lines of ‘There really only is one God…’ Perhaps influenced by Arius’ ideas, along came Mohammed three centuries later and rejected Christianity almost completely starting a new religion where there is only one God, making Jesus just a prophet, albeit the second greatest, after himself. Ironically the institutionalized church reacted not by sending loving missionaries to re-convert the Arab world but crusaders. So what we believe about the Trinity matters.
Given that, at first these readings may seem strange choices of readings for Trinity Sunday. After all neither mentions the Trinity, but then you will not find the word ‘Trinity' anywhere in the Bible, and you have to look pretty hard to find the Trinity in these readings. The first is about a prophet kissing a burning coal, the second about the patron saint of moths. The first is about Isaiah’s call from God. The coal-kissing comes in a vision Isaiah has of God as God commissions him. Where is the Trinity in this reading? It is implied only: ‘Who will go for us?’ asks God. God is not speaking about himself or herself and the angels, but about God’s-self as plurality, as more than one, as community.
In the second reading, Nicodemus shows himself to be the patron saint of moths; he only come out at night and is he drawn to the Light. Where is the Trinity in this? Jesus just assumes it. He talks of the Spirit blowing where she wills, giving literal and spiritual life to those she wills. It is she who allows people to be ‘born again’ into the kingdom of God. And what draws people to God, the love of the Father, seen in the love of the Son: God so loved the world that he sent his only Son…’. The Trinity as a word is never used in the Bible but it is assumed from beginning to end. So what is this Trinity is like? What is our model?
Firstly God is community, as implied in the Isaiah reading. In Rublev’s icon, Rublev brilliantly paints the Trinity, as recognisably similar, of the same family, but different, and he does so not in the usual slightly hard-edged masculine image but a gentler, kinder, more feminine style. The three share a space; they are together and separate; co-dependant, but acting freely. If we understand the Trinity, then we realise that we, too, have been given to each other, recognisably similar, of one family, but different, bringing different gifts and personalities to make us whole. God as community means ‘The Peace’ and Coffee-after-church are as important as the sermon or communion. It’s about sharing a common life.
Second, the Trinity is generosity. There is no competition here. The Father looks at the Son, who looks to the Spirit who looks to the Father. None is above the others. All commend each other. Each is gift to the others. Our churches should be like that. There is no competition here, for space, for position. Each should be looking to see in what ways we can give to the others, sharing what we have, or money, our time, our energy, our cars, our homes, for the sake of others in our churches. God is generosity.
Finally, God is love (1 John 4: 16). The three persons of the godhead are more than just generous towards each other. Each loves, without measure, the others. In Rublev’s icon, each look towards the others, with love. Even their bodies are turned towards each other. In the church it not enough that we do not gossip about each other or hurt each other in other ways. We are called beyond community which rubs alongside each other, beyond mere generosity, but called to value each other and love each other, not for what we can get from other people, but what we can share with them, and for each person in themselves. Yesterday Mike Mitton told a story of an old lady in his church who loves ‘Matins’ but in his church things are rather more relaxed than that; not her style. Mike asked her how she felt about that. “It’s not my style but you brought love to this church”. That is true of God; it should be true of us, as well.
Not surprisingly his tiny little church in Derby has grown. As we learn to love, so will this church again.
Something to do with love
Sermon for 21st Dec (Psalm 89:1·8; Luke 1:39·56)
A very religious couple was touring the Holy land during the Christmas season and decided it would be very meaningful to them to spend Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus. Arriving there, they searched high and low for a room, but none was available at any price. Finally, they pulled up in front of the Sheraton·Bethlehem and the husband got out of the car, telling his wife: "Stay here, sweetie. let me see if I can do something for us." He approached the desk and the clerk told him there were no rooms. "Sorry, Sir. It's Christmas Eve, our busiest time." No matter how much the man offered to pay, the clerk said he had nothing. Finally, the man told the clerk, "I bet if I told you my name was Joseph, that the woman waiting in the car was called Mary, and that she had a newborn infant, you'd find us a room." 'Well," stammered the clerk, "1_1 suppose so." "Okay," said the man. "I guarantee you, they're not coming tonight, so we'll take their room."
The story is told of William Phelps who taught English literature at Yale back in the early 1900s. Once, as he was marking an examination paper just before Christmas, Phelps found a near·blank answer sheet on which a student had scribbled, "Only God knows the answer to this question. Merry Christmas." Phelps returned the paper with this note: "God gets an A. You get an F. Happy New Year."
The same might be said about Jesus coming to earth as a human being? A great mystery. And the answer has something to do with love.
In fact, it's full of mysteries, how does a woman conceive without a man, or IVF treatment (not available then), how does she survive the shame of being pregnant before marriage, and worse the danger of that having nothing to do with Joseph - adultery and stoning! Yet the greater mystery is why God should come to earth at all. This is God, from the beginning, before the earth, before the Milky Way, the universe, the Big Bang, before time itself. This was God, creator of Mary, Joseph, Israel, the Romans, the human race, every living thing and the planet they walk on, even the Big Bang itself. This is God who gives life to the seed in Mary's womb, to Mary and to every living thing. This is God who lives in glory as the community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and yet one. This is God who lives in unimaginable glory with armies of angels worshipping him. Why come here? Why become human? Why to this obscure little country, to a tiny town, to a girl barely a woman and a jobbing carpenter, in a grotty animal pen, to be worshipped by the lowest in society and by strangers not accepted by the religious institutions. Why give up so much, for what must have seemed so little, for some so great. It's a mystery, but it has something to do with love.
And why do we give up our time, our comfort places, sometimes even our reputations, to get up to worship each Sunday, to serve him in the week, to stand up for others, in fact do anything that common sense tells us it would be easier, more comfortable, more secure, not to do. It's a mystery, but it has something to do with love.
A very religious couple was touring the Holy land during the Christmas season and decided it would be very meaningful to them to spend Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus. Arriving there, they searched high and low for a room, but none was available at any price. Finally, they pulled up in front of the Sheraton·Bethlehem and the husband got out of the car, telling his wife: "Stay here, sweetie. let me see if I can do something for us." He approached the desk and the clerk told him there were no rooms. "Sorry, Sir. It's Christmas Eve, our busiest time." No matter how much the man offered to pay, the clerk said he had nothing. Finally, the man told the clerk, "I bet if I told you my name was Joseph, that the woman waiting in the car was called Mary, and that she had a newborn infant, you'd find us a room." 'Well," stammered the clerk, "1_1 suppose so." "Okay," said the man. "I guarantee you, they're not coming tonight, so we'll take their room."
The story is told of William Phelps who taught English literature at Yale back in the early 1900s. Once, as he was marking an examination paper just before Christmas, Phelps found a near·blank answer sheet on which a student had scribbled, "Only God knows the answer to this question. Merry Christmas." Phelps returned the paper with this note: "God gets an A. You get an F. Happy New Year."
The same might be said about Jesus coming to earth as a human being? A great mystery. And the answer has something to do with love.
In fact, it's full of mysteries, how does a woman conceive without a man, or IVF treatment (not available then), how does she survive the shame of being pregnant before marriage, and worse the danger of that having nothing to do with Joseph - adultery and stoning! Yet the greater mystery is why God should come to earth at all. This is God, from the beginning, before the earth, before the Milky Way, the universe, the Big Bang, before time itself. This was God, creator of Mary, Joseph, Israel, the Romans, the human race, every living thing and the planet they walk on, even the Big Bang itself. This is God who gives life to the seed in Mary's womb, to Mary and to every living thing. This is God who lives in glory as the community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and yet one. This is God who lives in unimaginable glory with armies of angels worshipping him. Why come here? Why become human? Why to this obscure little country, to a tiny town, to a girl barely a woman and a jobbing carpenter, in a grotty animal pen, to be worshipped by the lowest in society and by strangers not accepted by the religious institutions. Why give up so much, for what must have seemed so little, for some so great. It's a mystery, but it has something to do with love.
And why do we give up our time, our comfort places, sometimes even our reputations, to get up to worship each Sunday, to serve him in the week, to stand up for others, in fact do anything that common sense tells us it would be easier, more comfortable, more secure, not to do. It's a mystery, but it has something to do with love.
Looking after each other
Sermon for 15th February 2009 (1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1; Mark 1:40-45)
A little girl was in church with her mother when she started feeling ill. "Mum," she said, "Can we leave now?" "No" her mother replied. "Well, I think I have to throw up!" "Then go out the front door and around to the back of the church and throw up behind a bush." A minute later the little girl returned to her seat. "Did you throw up?" Mum asked. "Yes." "How could you have gone all the way to the back of the church and returned so quickly?" "I didn't have to go out of the church, Mommy. They have a box next to the front door that says, 'For the Sick'.
The moral behaviour of a person is ruled by what they see as right or wrong. For the traditional Jew right and wrong is determined by the Law. What the Law permits is right and what the Law forbids is wrong. In our present culture, right and wrong depends, often, on how you feel about a course of action. The author Ernest Hemingway write, “What is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.” Traditional Jewish morality tends to legalism, rules, that is, putting the letter of the law before flesh-and-blood human needs. Popular Western morality, on the other hand, leads to a subjective morality in which the rightness or wrongness of what we do depends on how we feel about it. The Christian in the modern world is caught between these conflicting systems of morality.
Today, in the 2nd reading from 1st Corinthians, Paul gives us an alternative standard of morality based specifically on the teachings of Christ. According to Paul, whether an action is right or wrong depends on whether or not it contributes to the spiritual welfare and practical of others. In using this standard of morality, Paul the Jew rejects both traditional Jewish legalism and popular Western individualism.
Paul rejects traditional Jewish moral legalism by reaffirming the freedom of the children of God in Christ regarding the Jewish Law. For Christians “All things are lawful but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful but not all things build up” (1 Corinthians 10:24). He also rejects popular Western relativism by reaffirming the guiding Christian duty of love of neighbour; that implies that we put the interest of others before our own. “Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other” (verse 24). The freedom of the children of God and the Christian duty of love of neighbour are the two sides of the one coin that Paul sees as the standard of Christian morality. To show how this principle works in practice Paul takes the example of whether or not a Christian should eat meat offered to idols.
To resolve the case, Paul first appeals to the fundamental Christian belief that there is only one God and the world and all it contains belongs to Him. That means we are free from ritual acts regarding beliefs in other gods; these we know to be nothing but superstitions. So, we can eat meat offered to idols since there are no ‘gods’ other than the one God that we believe in. So following Christian belief, Christians could eat meat offered to idols.
Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, 26 for “the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.” 27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience (1 Corinthians 10:25-27).
That however, is only one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is thinking about the effect that might have on others. We are free to eat, yes, but if our eating scandalises a weaker brother or sister and leads them astray, then we should not eat. That is not because it is wrong or sinful but because we care for our less-informed neighbour.
But if someone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience-- 29 I mean the other's conscience, not your own (1 Corinthians 10:28-29).
So, in practice, love of neighbour overrides our freedom to eat meat offered to idols. Love rules.
Paul here gives us a new absolute standard of morality, which the Society of Jesus has adopted as its motto: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (AMDG) = To the Greater Glory of God. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (verse 31). Whatever we do is for the greater glory of God not just in our lives, in the lives of our neighbour, in the community, in our workplace, our bank or building Society and in our world.
This is the Christian standard of right and wrong that Paul teaches us today. We pray God to give us the wisdom to follow this rule of life rather than either rules or ‘what feels okay to me’, wherever we are and whoever we are with, for their sake, as well as ours.
A little girl was in church with her mother when she started feeling ill. "Mum," she said, "Can we leave now?" "No" her mother replied. "Well, I think I have to throw up!" "Then go out the front door and around to the back of the church and throw up behind a bush." A minute later the little girl returned to her seat. "Did you throw up?" Mum asked. "Yes." "How could you have gone all the way to the back of the church and returned so quickly?" "I didn't have to go out of the church, Mommy. They have a box next to the front door that says, 'For the Sick'.
The moral behaviour of a person is ruled by what they see as right or wrong. For the traditional Jew right and wrong is determined by the Law. What the Law permits is right and what the Law forbids is wrong. In our present culture, right and wrong depends, often, on how you feel about a course of action. The author Ernest Hemingway write, “What is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.” Traditional Jewish morality tends to legalism, rules, that is, putting the letter of the law before flesh-and-blood human needs. Popular Western morality, on the other hand, leads to a subjective morality in which the rightness or wrongness of what we do depends on how we feel about it. The Christian in the modern world is caught between these conflicting systems of morality.
Today, in the 2nd reading from 1st Corinthians, Paul gives us an alternative standard of morality based specifically on the teachings of Christ. According to Paul, whether an action is right or wrong depends on whether or not it contributes to the spiritual welfare and practical of others. In using this standard of morality, Paul the Jew rejects both traditional Jewish legalism and popular Western individualism.
Paul rejects traditional Jewish moral legalism by reaffirming the freedom of the children of God in Christ regarding the Jewish Law. For Christians “All things are lawful but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful but not all things build up” (1 Corinthians 10:24). He also rejects popular Western relativism by reaffirming the guiding Christian duty of love of neighbour; that implies that we put the interest of others before our own. “Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other” (verse 24). The freedom of the children of God and the Christian duty of love of neighbour are the two sides of the one coin that Paul sees as the standard of Christian morality. To show how this principle works in practice Paul takes the example of whether or not a Christian should eat meat offered to idols.
To resolve the case, Paul first appeals to the fundamental Christian belief that there is only one God and the world and all it contains belongs to Him. That means we are free from ritual acts regarding beliefs in other gods; these we know to be nothing but superstitions. So, we can eat meat offered to idols since there are no ‘gods’ other than the one God that we believe in. So following Christian belief, Christians could eat meat offered to idols.
Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, 26 for “the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.” 27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience (1 Corinthians 10:25-27).
That however, is only one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is thinking about the effect that might have on others. We are free to eat, yes, but if our eating scandalises a weaker brother or sister and leads them astray, then we should not eat. That is not because it is wrong or sinful but because we care for our less-informed neighbour.
But if someone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience-- 29 I mean the other's conscience, not your own (1 Corinthians 10:28-29).
So, in practice, love of neighbour overrides our freedom to eat meat offered to idols. Love rules.
Paul here gives us a new absolute standard of morality, which the Society of Jesus has adopted as its motto: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (AMDG) = To the Greater Glory of God. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (verse 31). Whatever we do is for the greater glory of God not just in our lives, in the lives of our neighbour, in the community, in our workplace, our bank or building Society and in our world.
This is the Christian standard of right and wrong that Paul teaches us today. We pray God to give us the wisdom to follow this rule of life rather than either rules or ‘what feels okay to me’, wherever we are and whoever we are with, for their sake, as well as ours.
Have you the Courage?
Sermon for 9th Nov (Isaiah 2: 1-4; Matt 5:38-41)
A woman and her husband interrupted their holiday to go to a dentist. "I want a tooth pulled, and I don't want painkillers as I'm in a big hurry," the woman said. "Just pull the tooth as quickly as possible,
and we'll be on our way." The dentist was quite impressed. "You're certainly very brave"
he said. "Which tooth is it?" The woman turned to her husband and said, "Show him your tooth, dear."
A story of courage? Today is all about courage, not just about remembering people who had courage, or not in war, but also courage to commit ourselves to preventing war from happening. I am going to suggest two ways we can at least reduce the likelihood of wars happening:
i) – peaceful change - not to assume change requires wars to happen,
ii) – justice - to take away the need for wars.
i) Peace. Our whole society assumes that the only way to peace is have wars; that’s why we spend billions every year on weapons as a nation every year. So what does Jesus say? In the Gospel reading, Jesus has this strange idea of turning the other cheek – does that mean we just give in and become doormats? No. In Jesus time, under Roman law, if you had a problem with an equal you could sort it out with your fists. Now, since they did not use their left fists (as is still the case in that region the left hand is used for wiping your bottom so is ‘unclean’ so is not used for eating of fighting) it meant hitting with the right fist – which cheek? the left cheek. The only way you can hit someone on the right cheek as in Jesus saying, is to slap them with the back of the hand; its an insult to someone over whom you had power. It was a means of control, a humiliation. So is Jesus saying ‘Give in’? No. If you turn to him the other (left) cheek suddenly you put you attacker in a difficult position because the only way to hit the person would be to use your fist; in effect they would have to make them their equal! Your attacker is disempowered from attacking, or the system of abuse breaks down. The principle Jesus is establishing is that it’s not right to give in when someone abuses their position of power; you have to think of ways that take away that person’s power over you. In World War II Denmark, as elsewhere, all Jews had to wear yellow stars. The Danish people chose to all wear stars. The power system broke down. In America Martin Luther King changed America without bloody revolution; this week a black president was sworn in, all through non-violent methods. In India Gandhi threw out the greatest empire in the world for the loss of a few thousand people. In each case it was by winning the moral argument uncovering the evil of the system of oppression. After World War I, the allies failed the world by punishing all of Germany instead of just its leaders, humiliating the nation, making World War II almost inevitable. In the Philippines non-violent revolution ended a dictatorship for the loss of just 121 lives. In Poland Russia’s grip was broken by Solidarity peacefully. In 1989-90 alone, fourteen nations underwent nonviolent revolutions, all but one successful, involving 1.7 billion people. If we total all the nonviolent movements of the twentieth century, the figure comes to 3.4 billion people, and again, most were successful. And yet there are people who still insist that nonviolence doesn't work! There is always a cost but compared to war or revolution its nothing. It’s Jesus way. It’s a costly way. Could you have the courage for this way?
ii) Justice. Why do wars happen? Almost always through injustice. Germany rightly felt aggrieved after the First World War. Terrorism against the West is justified by the injustices by the West against the third world. Wars are fought over drugs; even in this country desperate addicts use violence and robbery to fuel their addiction. Drugs are grown in Columbia and Peru by farmers who get so little for their produce from greedy supermarkets that they can only survive by growing drugs. Iraq only happened because the west wanted control of cheap fuel for their cars. We want things cheap; we can force people to produce desperately cheap; that makes for an angry world. – Rich vs. Poor. While we take advantage of the world, terrorism and the threat of war will always be with us. The papers are rightly saying that Obama’s first objectives will be to undo the damage caused by Bush, but we can play our part. We had to replace our car last week; we’ve bought one a much smaller Toyota Yaris; it does 55 mpg! We’re looking at the feasibility of using solar energy for this church. Reducing our need for fuel will someday save us repeating the Iraq war; it might also even save our planet from destruction. On Friday we went shopping in three Fair-Trade shops and spent about £250 on Fair-Trade clothes and Christmas presents. A drop in the bucket? Yes, but enough drops fill buckets. Enough people change cultures. Saving the environment and Fair-trade are becoming a selling points – our culture of greed is beginning to change. We can help it happen, it costs; it takes courage.
Today we remember wars not to glorify them. This is not about making an eyeless, toothless world. Instead, its about having the courage to reduce the likelihood of wars. In Isaiah's vision of God’s world we stop making ‘spears’ or in our case nuclear bombs and tanks and start building renewable energy plants, and pay farmers fairly; a world where justice, not wars solves our problems. It may not stop all wars. It makes them a lot less likely. Jesus’ way, I believe, is a better way – but it does take courage.
A woman and her husband interrupted their holiday to go to a dentist. "I want a tooth pulled, and I don't want painkillers as I'm in a big hurry," the woman said. "Just pull the tooth as quickly as possible,
and we'll be on our way." The dentist was quite impressed. "You're certainly very brave"
he said. "Which tooth is it?" The woman turned to her husband and said, "Show him your tooth, dear."
A story of courage? Today is all about courage, not just about remembering people who had courage, or not in war, but also courage to commit ourselves to preventing war from happening. I am going to suggest two ways we can at least reduce the likelihood of wars happening:
i) – peaceful change - not to assume change requires wars to happen,
ii) – justice - to take away the need for wars.
i) Peace. Our whole society assumes that the only way to peace is have wars; that’s why we spend billions every year on weapons as a nation every year. So what does Jesus say? In the Gospel reading, Jesus has this strange idea of turning the other cheek – does that mean we just give in and become doormats? No. In Jesus time, under Roman law, if you had a problem with an equal you could sort it out with your fists. Now, since they did not use their left fists (as is still the case in that region the left hand is used for wiping your bottom so is ‘unclean’ so is not used for eating of fighting) it meant hitting with the right fist – which cheek? the left cheek. The only way you can hit someone on the right cheek as in Jesus saying, is to slap them with the back of the hand; its an insult to someone over whom you had power. It was a means of control, a humiliation. So is Jesus saying ‘Give in’? No. If you turn to him the other (left) cheek suddenly you put you attacker in a difficult position because the only way to hit the person would be to use your fist; in effect they would have to make them their equal! Your attacker is disempowered from attacking, or the system of abuse breaks down. The principle Jesus is establishing is that it’s not right to give in when someone abuses their position of power; you have to think of ways that take away that person’s power over you. In World War II Denmark, as elsewhere, all Jews had to wear yellow stars. The Danish people chose to all wear stars. The power system broke down. In America Martin Luther King changed America without bloody revolution; this week a black president was sworn in, all through non-violent methods. In India Gandhi threw out the greatest empire in the world for the loss of a few thousand people. In each case it was by winning the moral argument uncovering the evil of the system of oppression. After World War I, the allies failed the world by punishing all of Germany instead of just its leaders, humiliating the nation, making World War II almost inevitable. In the Philippines non-violent revolution ended a dictatorship for the loss of just 121 lives. In Poland Russia’s grip was broken by Solidarity peacefully. In 1989-90 alone, fourteen nations underwent nonviolent revolutions, all but one successful, involving 1.7 billion people. If we total all the nonviolent movements of the twentieth century, the figure comes to 3.4 billion people, and again, most were successful. And yet there are people who still insist that nonviolence doesn't work! There is always a cost but compared to war or revolution its nothing. It’s Jesus way. It’s a costly way. Could you have the courage for this way?
ii) Justice. Why do wars happen? Almost always through injustice. Germany rightly felt aggrieved after the First World War. Terrorism against the West is justified by the injustices by the West against the third world. Wars are fought over drugs; even in this country desperate addicts use violence and robbery to fuel their addiction. Drugs are grown in Columbia and Peru by farmers who get so little for their produce from greedy supermarkets that they can only survive by growing drugs. Iraq only happened because the west wanted control of cheap fuel for their cars. We want things cheap; we can force people to produce desperately cheap; that makes for an angry world. – Rich vs. Poor. While we take advantage of the world, terrorism and the threat of war will always be with us. The papers are rightly saying that Obama’s first objectives will be to undo the damage caused by Bush, but we can play our part. We had to replace our car last week; we’ve bought one a much smaller Toyota Yaris; it does 55 mpg! We’re looking at the feasibility of using solar energy for this church. Reducing our need for fuel will someday save us repeating the Iraq war; it might also even save our planet from destruction. On Friday we went shopping in three Fair-Trade shops and spent about £250 on Fair-Trade clothes and Christmas presents. A drop in the bucket? Yes, but enough drops fill buckets. Enough people change cultures. Saving the environment and Fair-trade are becoming a selling points – our culture of greed is beginning to change. We can help it happen, it costs; it takes courage.
Today we remember wars not to glorify them. This is not about making an eyeless, toothless world. Instead, its about having the courage to reduce the likelihood of wars. In Isaiah's vision of God’s world we stop making ‘spears’ or in our case nuclear bombs and tanks and start building renewable energy plants, and pay farmers fairly; a world where justice, not wars solves our problems. It may not stop all wars. It makes them a lot less likely. Jesus’ way, I believe, is a better way – but it does take courage.
Hopes and Fears
Sermon for Christmas Eve 2008 (Luke 2: 1-5)
A man in Newfoundland calls his son in Calgary two days before Christmas and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."
"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams.
"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Vancouver and tell her."
Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone.
"No way they're getting divorced!" she shouts, "I'll take care of this."
She calls Newfoundland immediately and screams at her father, "You are not getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there by tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.
The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "they're coming for Christmas and paying their own way".
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight’ – the well-known words of ‘O Little town of Bethlehem’. Yet for a young woman, barely a woman, as, like us, we wait for Jesus’ coming, these words might have applied to her.
She is young, barely more than a girl, a teenager and probably, barely even that, full of all the hopes and dreams of young people, fun, love, marriage, a happy home, children, family – and in the case of the people of Israel and other countries under occupation, freedom from the Romans. And like Jews of her day, praying for a Saviour to make that happen, and to bring about the vision of a better, more caring loving, world, where her children could grow up in safety. And where she could grow old with Joseph.
For she had love, chosen for her, perhaps, but she had love, in a man called Joseph, not the most exciting, a builder who could do some carpentry, but at least no worries about the house being maintained. And he was faithful to God, and so far, faithful to her, kind, considerate, and deep. He pondered things. She liked that.
And Mary had the natural hope and optimism of the young. Things must have looked fairly certain, if not extraordinary or special – what more could a girl in those days, and in that area, ask for?
And then an Archangel breaks into all of that, with amazing, disturbing, strange words. ‘Yes, the Messiah is coming, and you are the chosen one’ he said.
‘And how would Joseph feel about that?’ you can almost hear her say ‘What do you mean Joseph will not be involved?’. And then this unbelievable part, ‘the Holy Spirit will do this’.
More questions than answers. ‘What will Joseph say? Will he stay? Or… will I be on my own? In fact how will my neighbours respond? – especially the religious ones! Am I in danger?’
And the future? a child to bear, a child to love, a child to hold, a child to protect – and from what, or whom? If she had known what lay ahead, would she have been able to say ‘Yes’, but then that is true of so much of life, and yet when the time comes, God provides the strength to cope, even for what was to happen to this tiny baby only just in her womb?
Mary had hopes, and she had fears. It was trust in a loving God that allowed her to say ‘Yes’. It’s our trust that allows us to say ‘Yes’ when he calls us to follow this Messiah that we celebrate tonight, with all our hopes and fears.
A man in Newfoundland calls his son in Calgary two days before Christmas and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."
"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams.
"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Vancouver and tell her."
Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone.
"No way they're getting divorced!" she shouts, "I'll take care of this."
She calls Newfoundland immediately and screams at her father, "You are not getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there by tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.
The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "they're coming for Christmas and paying their own way".
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight’ – the well-known words of ‘O Little town of Bethlehem’. Yet for a young woman, barely a woman, as, like us, we wait for Jesus’ coming, these words might have applied to her.
She is young, barely more than a girl, a teenager and probably, barely even that, full of all the hopes and dreams of young people, fun, love, marriage, a happy home, children, family – and in the case of the people of Israel and other countries under occupation, freedom from the Romans. And like Jews of her day, praying for a Saviour to make that happen, and to bring about the vision of a better, more caring loving, world, where her children could grow up in safety. And where she could grow old with Joseph.
For she had love, chosen for her, perhaps, but she had love, in a man called Joseph, not the most exciting, a builder who could do some carpentry, but at least no worries about the house being maintained. And he was faithful to God, and so far, faithful to her, kind, considerate, and deep. He pondered things. She liked that.
And Mary had the natural hope and optimism of the young. Things must have looked fairly certain, if not extraordinary or special – what more could a girl in those days, and in that area, ask for?
And then an Archangel breaks into all of that, with amazing, disturbing, strange words. ‘Yes, the Messiah is coming, and you are the chosen one’ he said.
‘And how would Joseph feel about that?’ you can almost hear her say ‘What do you mean Joseph will not be involved?’. And then this unbelievable part, ‘the Holy Spirit will do this’.
More questions than answers. ‘What will Joseph say? Will he stay? Or… will I be on my own? In fact how will my neighbours respond? – especially the religious ones! Am I in danger?’
And the future? a child to bear, a child to love, a child to hold, a child to protect – and from what, or whom? If she had known what lay ahead, would she have been able to say ‘Yes’, but then that is true of so much of life, and yet when the time comes, God provides the strength to cope, even for what was to happen to this tiny baby only just in her womb?
Mary had hopes, and she had fears. It was trust in a loving God that allowed her to say ‘Yes’. It’s our trust that allows us to say ‘Yes’ when he calls us to follow this Messiah that we celebrate tonight, with all our hopes and fears.
The Liberator
Sermon for 8th February 2009 (Isaiah 40: 21-31; Mark 1: 29-39)
A certain lady always talked about her job at home, and her young daughter always listened with great interest. So she thought it would be a treat for her daughter to spend a day with her at the office. Since she wanted it to be a surprise, she didn't tell her child where they were going; she just said that it would be fun. Although usually a bit shy, the girl seemed excited at first, to meet each colleague that her mother introduced to her. On the way home, however, she seemed somewhat down. "Didn't you have a nice time?" asked her mother. "Well, it was okay." she responded. "But I thought it would be more like a circus." Confused, her mother asked, "Whatever do you mean?" She said, "Well, you said you work with a bunch of clowns, and I never got to see them!"
Work in this country is, mostly, reasonably well paid and the conditions are, on the whole reasonably safe and good, even if it’s not often a circus. Next week Fairtrade fortnight begins. It’s a reminder to us that for many people across the world, work is not good or well paid and in some cases is, literally, slavery, and a reminder that we can do something about that - each one of us.
St Luke’s church council voted recently voted to apply for ‘Fair-Trade’ status. That was not new for us; we have used fairtrade coffee for years and now sometimes biscuits after church. Through sermons and discussions we’ve encouraged other people to use Fairtrade goods, like bananas, Divine chocolate, Percol or Cafedirect coffee and tea, Traidcraft goods, even clothes, although these tend to be the smaller stores or Christian groups selling from Christian bookshops or even off market stalls.
Why bother? Does it matter? What’s the reality of the problem? The things we buy in Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, we would like to think are goods made by people who get a fair wage for doing them. Sometimes that is true. Kenco coffee, for instance, is not officially Faitrade but do have a very caring attitude to their employees and do pay relatively good wages. Starbucks and the café we use on days off in Lichfield uses Fairtrade coffee. All of that only happens because of the Fair Trade movement and things like Fair Trade fortnight acting as reminders to us all, including big businesses.
Sadly, many firms are not that caring and will use the cheapest produicts possible; have you ever wondered how some of the things we but are incredibly cheap… and keep on getting cheaper?. They are cheap and the supermarket, or clothes, or shoestores are taking 40% of the cost as their own profit, the seller to the supermarket another 10% and so on. The amount that goes to the person if often 1% or less of what it costs us. What that means is that in this world one in eight have not enough to live on, 40% of the world live less than £2 a day, one billion have no access to safe brinking water, 100 million will never even get the chance to start school let alone finish it, 35, 000 children a day die. For instance the toys we buy are mostly made in China where workers work 12 hour days earning 10p an hour in horrible and dangerous conditions.
Worse still is the active and real slave trade. More than a hundred years ago slavery was abolished. Yet around the world today the best estimates are that there something like 27 million slaves. The chocolates we tuck into over our school or coffee breaks was probably in part made by slaves. Desperately poor African families are drawn to apply for jobs in a different country, move there and then are either paid less than the cost of the rent for the horrible workers houses or are actually imprisoned by greedy men who just want to get rich. Even in our own country we can’t be certain that people are being paid fair wages or a safe; think of the Morecambe Bay winkle pickers; a Vicar there says more will die there. Sweatshops produce cheap clothes amongst immigrant workers in cramped, badly lit, normally dangerous conditions where the workers are islaoted from the world around them.
How would Jesus respond? Todays’ reading was just one of the many, many examples we know of when Jesus saw a need. In this case it was a man suffering from leprosy, a disease that still maims people hooribly for life and kills some. Then, there was no cure and no care. If you were a leper not only did you have the disease, you were seen as cursed by God and so were rejected by society and ‘damned’ by God. Jesus came to show us what God thinks. Jesus did not reject him, or ignore him or push him away. He went to him; he treated him like a full human being, talking to him as an equal, maybe for the first time in years, and then he set him free. Jesus gave him a chance to start again, with a whole, clean body and accepted in society. That is what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to give people who earn less than two pounds a day a chance to earn a decent wage, to be able to send their children to school, to see their children grow up, to be able to live safely just as we do.
How? One way is to buy fair-trade goods. The families who sell the products can get a life. They will not get rich, but they will not have to be desperately poor. They and their children are less likely to become slaves. They won’t have to grow drugs or chop down rain forests to do all this. Fairtrade fortnight is a reminder to us all that everyone deserves a fair wage for what they make. What we buy sets people free or risks making them prisoners and slaves. Jesus asks us to choose.
A certain lady always talked about her job at home, and her young daughter always listened with great interest. So she thought it would be a treat for her daughter to spend a day with her at the office. Since she wanted it to be a surprise, she didn't tell her child where they were going; she just said that it would be fun. Although usually a bit shy, the girl seemed excited at first, to meet each colleague that her mother introduced to her. On the way home, however, she seemed somewhat down. "Didn't you have a nice time?" asked her mother. "Well, it was okay." she responded. "But I thought it would be more like a circus." Confused, her mother asked, "Whatever do you mean?" She said, "Well, you said you work with a bunch of clowns, and I never got to see them!"
Work in this country is, mostly, reasonably well paid and the conditions are, on the whole reasonably safe and good, even if it’s not often a circus. Next week Fairtrade fortnight begins. It’s a reminder to us that for many people across the world, work is not good or well paid and in some cases is, literally, slavery, and a reminder that we can do something about that - each one of us.
St Luke’s church council voted recently voted to apply for ‘Fair-Trade’ status. That was not new for us; we have used fairtrade coffee for years and now sometimes biscuits after church. Through sermons and discussions we’ve encouraged other people to use Fairtrade goods, like bananas, Divine chocolate, Percol or Cafedirect coffee and tea, Traidcraft goods, even clothes, although these tend to be the smaller stores or Christian groups selling from Christian bookshops or even off market stalls.
Why bother? Does it matter? What’s the reality of the problem? The things we buy in Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, we would like to think are goods made by people who get a fair wage for doing them. Sometimes that is true. Kenco coffee, for instance, is not officially Faitrade but do have a very caring attitude to their employees and do pay relatively good wages. Starbucks and the café we use on days off in Lichfield uses Fairtrade coffee. All of that only happens because of the Fair Trade movement and things like Fair Trade fortnight acting as reminders to us all, including big businesses.
Sadly, many firms are not that caring and will use the cheapest produicts possible; have you ever wondered how some of the things we but are incredibly cheap… and keep on getting cheaper?. They are cheap and the supermarket, or clothes, or shoestores are taking 40% of the cost as their own profit, the seller to the supermarket another 10% and so on. The amount that goes to the person if often 1% or less of what it costs us. What that means is that in this world one in eight have not enough to live on, 40% of the world live less than £2 a day, one billion have no access to safe brinking water, 100 million will never even get the chance to start school let alone finish it, 35, 000 children a day die. For instance the toys we buy are mostly made in China where workers work 12 hour days earning 10p an hour in horrible and dangerous conditions.
Worse still is the active and real slave trade. More than a hundred years ago slavery was abolished. Yet around the world today the best estimates are that there something like 27 million slaves. The chocolates we tuck into over our school or coffee breaks was probably in part made by slaves. Desperately poor African families are drawn to apply for jobs in a different country, move there and then are either paid less than the cost of the rent for the horrible workers houses or are actually imprisoned by greedy men who just want to get rich. Even in our own country we can’t be certain that people are being paid fair wages or a safe; think of the Morecambe Bay winkle pickers; a Vicar there says more will die there. Sweatshops produce cheap clothes amongst immigrant workers in cramped, badly lit, normally dangerous conditions where the workers are islaoted from the world around them.
How would Jesus respond? Todays’ reading was just one of the many, many examples we know of when Jesus saw a need. In this case it was a man suffering from leprosy, a disease that still maims people hooribly for life and kills some. Then, there was no cure and no care. If you were a leper not only did you have the disease, you were seen as cursed by God and so were rejected by society and ‘damned’ by God. Jesus came to show us what God thinks. Jesus did not reject him, or ignore him or push him away. He went to him; he treated him like a full human being, talking to him as an equal, maybe for the first time in years, and then he set him free. Jesus gave him a chance to start again, with a whole, clean body and accepted in society. That is what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to give people who earn less than two pounds a day a chance to earn a decent wage, to be able to send their children to school, to see their children grow up, to be able to live safely just as we do.
How? One way is to buy fair-trade goods. The families who sell the products can get a life. They will not get rich, but they will not have to be desperately poor. They and their children are less likely to become slaves. They won’t have to grow drugs or chop down rain forests to do all this. Fairtrade fortnight is a reminder to us all that everyone deserves a fair wage for what they make. What we buy sets people free or risks making them prisoners and slaves. Jesus asks us to choose.
The Greatest Commandment
Sermon for 29th Oct 2008 (Exodus 22:21-27, Matthew 22:34-40)
‘Love…with all that you are… as you love yourself …..the Lord….. and your neighbour ‘
If I had all year to preach on this commandment, it would not be enough. We all have this changed version of the verse to put up somewhere and ponder each day, so it continues to speak after this service. I’ve broken it down into bits to talk about it. As you’ll see, it’s hard to break it down into pieces:
First, love with all that you are ….. that assumes we know what love is. Put simply it’s giving of ourselves – whether that’s to God, or to others …. it’s saying ‘Here I am’. It’s the attitude of a loving servant, or of a considerate lover, or a loving parent. It says not ‘what can we get’, but what have we to give? Our car packed up last week. Someone from St Matthew’s heard about it and have offered us their car while they are away on holiday next week. They have given what they have. I haven’t organised a Pledge card offering for St Luke’s Sunday this year, partly because in anxious times it’s hard not to be over-anxious about money, and therefore to be generous, but also because in a sense we should always be reviewing what we give to God. Could I give more now? Think about it – how much does what I give God (not the Vicar) in my regular giving, in my time, show of my love of God? And if I give, is it conditional? Let me illustrate that with this week’s joke:
A woman lost her handbag in the bustle of Christmas shopping. It was found by an honest little boy and returned to her. Looking in her purse, she commented, "That's funny. When I lost my bag there was a £10 note in it. Now there are ten £1 coins." The boy quickly replied, "That's right, lady. The last time I found a lady's purse, she didn't have any change for a reward." The boy gave, but he wanted something back. You will know people who give you something, but they expect something back. What about you? So, the first part is love with all that you are.
Second, ‘as you love yourself’. That’s assumes something – that you do love yourself. The more we know we are loved by God and by others, the more we freely give. Lovers often give spontaneously, generously, even idiotically, unconditionally, because they feel loved. The more time we spend with God, receiving his love, the more we are likely to want to give others. And when it comes to giving, exactly how we give becomes more obvious. If we imagine ourselves in someone else’s situation, all we have to ask is: 'What would I want someone to do for me?' – and then, do it. It depends on how much you know them, of course. What you want and need is not necessarily what they want and need. We use inclusive language in S Luke’s, not to meet our needs always but because some are excluded otherwise. The boy who helps the old lady across the road is only loving when he has checked whether she wants to cross the road first.
Thirdly, ‘the Lord’. One of the things I’m hearing from people leaving churches in my research this year, is that many leave because they have heard about the love of God but do not always see it in churches. Neither have they got to the place where they know the Lord well enough to cope with upset. The more we spend time with God in prayer, in reading about Jesus, God on earth, the more we understand the love of this God that we serve; his love for us, her love for others, the more likely we are to share that love with others. The Lord, who become a baby, an outcast, a servant washing feet, the one who takes the blame of the world in himself, the one who dies because he seeks justice for the poor as well as the rich. That God, that Lord, we could die for…. if we really know him (or her)
Finally, ‘and our neighbour’. ‘If I am hungry, that is a physical problem; if my neighbour is hungry, that is a spiritual problem’. Do you know your literal neighbours, the people around you in your workplace for those at work, this church (at ‘The peace’ try and meet one person you do not know yet). If we cannot know them and love them, people will not see the love of God through us. So we begin there, but as the Good Samaritan story reminds us, our neighbour is anyone we meet, in need, and some we do not. The person we raise money for through charity giving is our neighbour. Those who will be affected by global warming which we help to cause are our neighbours. Those who have next-to-nothing because we in the West demand and expect so much are out neighbours.
Leigh Hunt wrote a poem about a man called Abou Ben Adhem. Abou woke from his sleep one night and saw an angel writing in a book of gold the names of those who love God. "And is mine one?" he asked. "Nay, not so," replied the angel. "I pray thee, then," said Abou, "write me as one who loves his fellow men." The next night the angel came again and showed him the names of those who love God and Abou’s name topped the list. This poem makes the point that true love of God and true love of our fellow human beings are like two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist apart from the other. Practically speaking, true love of God and true love of neighbour are one and the same thing.
‘Love…with all that you are… as you love yourself …..the Lord….. and your neighbour ‘
If I had all year to preach on this commandment, it would not be enough. We all have this changed version of the verse to put up somewhere and ponder each day, so it continues to speak after this service. I’ve broken it down into bits to talk about it. As you’ll see, it’s hard to break it down into pieces:
First, love with all that you are ….. that assumes we know what love is. Put simply it’s giving of ourselves – whether that’s to God, or to others …. it’s saying ‘Here I am’. It’s the attitude of a loving servant, or of a considerate lover, or a loving parent. It says not ‘what can we get’, but what have we to give? Our car packed up last week. Someone from St Matthew’s heard about it and have offered us their car while they are away on holiday next week. They have given what they have. I haven’t organised a Pledge card offering for St Luke’s Sunday this year, partly because in anxious times it’s hard not to be over-anxious about money, and therefore to be generous, but also because in a sense we should always be reviewing what we give to God. Could I give more now? Think about it – how much does what I give God (not the Vicar) in my regular giving, in my time, show of my love of God? And if I give, is it conditional? Let me illustrate that with this week’s joke:
A woman lost her handbag in the bustle of Christmas shopping. It was found by an honest little boy and returned to her. Looking in her purse, she commented, "That's funny. When I lost my bag there was a £10 note in it. Now there are ten £1 coins." The boy quickly replied, "That's right, lady. The last time I found a lady's purse, she didn't have any change for a reward." The boy gave, but he wanted something back. You will know people who give you something, but they expect something back. What about you? So, the first part is love with all that you are.
Second, ‘as you love yourself’. That’s assumes something – that you do love yourself. The more we know we are loved by God and by others, the more we freely give. Lovers often give spontaneously, generously, even idiotically, unconditionally, because they feel loved. The more time we spend with God, receiving his love, the more we are likely to want to give others. And when it comes to giving, exactly how we give becomes more obvious. If we imagine ourselves in someone else’s situation, all we have to ask is: 'What would I want someone to do for me?' – and then, do it. It depends on how much you know them, of course. What you want and need is not necessarily what they want and need. We use inclusive language in S Luke’s, not to meet our needs always but because some are excluded otherwise. The boy who helps the old lady across the road is only loving when he has checked whether she wants to cross the road first.
Thirdly, ‘the Lord’. One of the things I’m hearing from people leaving churches in my research this year, is that many leave because they have heard about the love of God but do not always see it in churches. Neither have they got to the place where they know the Lord well enough to cope with upset. The more we spend time with God in prayer, in reading about Jesus, God on earth, the more we understand the love of this God that we serve; his love for us, her love for others, the more likely we are to share that love with others. The Lord, who become a baby, an outcast, a servant washing feet, the one who takes the blame of the world in himself, the one who dies because he seeks justice for the poor as well as the rich. That God, that Lord, we could die for…. if we really know him (or her)
Finally, ‘and our neighbour’. ‘If I am hungry, that is a physical problem; if my neighbour is hungry, that is a spiritual problem’. Do you know your literal neighbours, the people around you in your workplace for those at work, this church (at ‘The peace’ try and meet one person you do not know yet). If we cannot know them and love them, people will not see the love of God through us. So we begin there, but as the Good Samaritan story reminds us, our neighbour is anyone we meet, in need, and some we do not. The person we raise money for through charity giving is our neighbour. Those who will be affected by global warming which we help to cause are our neighbours. Those who have next-to-nothing because we in the West demand and expect so much are out neighbours.
Leigh Hunt wrote a poem about a man called Abou Ben Adhem. Abou woke from his sleep one night and saw an angel writing in a book of gold the names of those who love God. "And is mine one?" he asked. "Nay, not so," replied the angel. "I pray thee, then," said Abou, "write me as one who loves his fellow men." The next night the angel came again and showed him the names of those who love God and Abou’s name topped the list. This poem makes the point that true love of God and true love of our fellow human beings are like two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist apart from the other. Practically speaking, true love of God and true love of neighbour are one and the same thing.
Who is this man?
Sermon for 8th March 2009 (Gen 17: 1-7, 15-16, Mark 9: 2-9)
Who is Jesus? Every year Lent asks us this huge question ‘Who is Jesus?’- think about it for a moment; how would you describe Jesus to someone else?...
He is all sorts of things to different people; to Muslims he is a prophet, the second greatest after Mohammed, to many people, including those of other religions he is a good man, an inspiration, a great teacher, to many Christians he is more than that; he is God. So why do these Christians believe that? Let’s look at what Jesus says about himself, let alone what others say about him…
John 2:16 Stop making my Father’s house a market place
2:19 Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up
3:13 None has ascended into heaven except he who had descended… the Son of Man’
3:16 God sent his only Son, that all who believe in him… should have eternal life
3:17 the world might be saved through him
4:14 the water I give will well up into eternal life
5:20 The Son judges no-one but leaves all judgements to the Son
5:20 the dead will hear his voice, and those who hear will live
6:35 I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never be hungry
7:29 I am from God and God sent me
8:58 Before Abraham was, I am
10:11 I am the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep
10:30 I and (God)the Father are one
11:25 I am the Resurrction and the Life; those who believe in will …live
12:45 Whover sees me sees who sent me(God)
14:1 Believe in God; believe also in me
14:5 I am the Way, the Truth and the Light. No-one comes to (God) the Father except though me
14:9 Whoever has seen me has seen (God) the Father
If you look at these verses and ask what would you think of a neighbour who said these things of themslves, you would think, with CS Lewis one of three things:
That they were ‘Mad or bad or God’ and just because Jesus did amazing things, realistically you can still only come up with one of those three conclusions; he was ‘Mad or bad or God’. Whichever way you try it, there are just three possibilities you come back to. So why does it matter that we really decide?
I was talking with a woman as part of my research on why people leave the church; this woman had moved to a different faith for very positive reasons, reasons about justice for all, compassion that I would expect someone to find answers to in the life and teaching so Jesus, as I do. It was after nearly two hours of telling me her story that she said something that made me realise why she had not stayed with Christianity – ‘Jesus was a really good man’ – that is all she believed about him. But if he was just a man, he could not say all these things about himself. If he was just a good man, he would be like Martin Luther-King, inspirational but not someone you worship on Sundays and live your life for. I want people to do the sort of things that Martin Luther King did, but you need a reason, a motivation for giving your life to that kind of self-giving ministry. Hours before he was assassinated Martin Luther-King gave a speech, called the Mountain-Top Speech:
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land....
Just like the disciples in today’s story, what kept them going with Jesus’ vision for a changed world was a vision of Jesus as more than just a man, neither mad, nor bad, but what he claimed to be all along, which is God himself.
My challenge to you all today and through this Lent is to ask yourself what it is you really believe about Jesus?
And what difference should that make to your life?
Who is Jesus? Every year Lent asks us this huge question ‘Who is Jesus?’- think about it for a moment; how would you describe Jesus to someone else?...
He is all sorts of things to different people; to Muslims he is a prophet, the second greatest after Mohammed, to many people, including those of other religions he is a good man, an inspiration, a great teacher, to many Christians he is more than that; he is God. So why do these Christians believe that? Let’s look at what Jesus says about himself, let alone what others say about him…
John 2:16 Stop making my Father’s house a market place
2:19 Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up
3:13 None has ascended into heaven except he who had descended… the Son of Man’
3:16 God sent his only Son, that all who believe in him… should have eternal life
3:17 the world might be saved through him
4:14 the water I give will well up into eternal life
5:20 The Son judges no-one but leaves all judgements to the Son
5:20 the dead will hear his voice, and those who hear will live
6:35 I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never be hungry
7:29 I am from God and God sent me
8:58 Before Abraham was, I am
10:11 I am the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep
10:30 I and (God)the Father are one
11:25 I am the Resurrction and the Life; those who believe in will …live
12:45 Whover sees me sees who sent me(God)
14:1 Believe in God; believe also in me
14:5 I am the Way, the Truth and the Light. No-one comes to (God) the Father except though me
14:9 Whoever has seen me has seen (God) the Father
If you look at these verses and ask what would you think of a neighbour who said these things of themslves, you would think, with CS Lewis one of three things:
That they were ‘Mad or bad or God’ and just because Jesus did amazing things, realistically you can still only come up with one of those three conclusions; he was ‘Mad or bad or God’. Whichever way you try it, there are just three possibilities you come back to. So why does it matter that we really decide?
I was talking with a woman as part of my research on why people leave the church; this woman had moved to a different faith for very positive reasons, reasons about justice for all, compassion that I would expect someone to find answers to in the life and teaching so Jesus, as I do. It was after nearly two hours of telling me her story that she said something that made me realise why she had not stayed with Christianity – ‘Jesus was a really good man’ – that is all she believed about him. But if he was just a man, he could not say all these things about himself. If he was just a good man, he would be like Martin Luther-King, inspirational but not someone you worship on Sundays and live your life for. I want people to do the sort of things that Martin Luther King did, but you need a reason, a motivation for giving your life to that kind of self-giving ministry. Hours before he was assassinated Martin Luther-King gave a speech, called the Mountain-Top Speech:
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land....
Just like the disciples in today’s story, what kept them going with Jesus’ vision for a changed world was a vision of Jesus as more than just a man, neither mad, nor bad, but what he claimed to be all along, which is God himself.
My challenge to you all today and through this Lent is to ask yourself what it is you really believe about Jesus?
And what difference should that make to your life?
Calling to life
Sermon for Epiphany Sunday, 18th January (1 Samuel 3: 1-10; John 1:43-51)
There’s a mythical memo doing the rounds;
Subject: CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT!
SICKDAYS: We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.
SURGERY: Operations are now banned. As long as you are an employee here, you need all your organs. You should not consider removing anything. We hired you intact.
PERSONAL DAYS: Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year, called Saturday & Sunday.
ANNUAL LEAVE: All employees will take their holidays at the same time every year: Jan. 1, Dec. 25 & 26
TOILET USE: Too much time is being spent in the toilet. In the future, we will go in alphabetical order. So, employees whose names begin with 'A' will go 8:00- 8:20, those with names beginning with 'B' 8:20-8:40 and so on. If you cannot go at your allotted time, you must wait until the next day when your turn comes again. In emergencies employees may swap their time with a co-worker. Both employees' supervisors must approve this in writing. Also, there is now a strict 3-minute time limit in the cubicles.
After three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, and the cubicle door will open.
The bible stories today are both about calling. If I worked for a boss who expected me to work like the above, I might feel called to work elsewhere. Yet all of us are called, as much as Nathaniel (meaning ‘Given by God’) and Samuel (‘Heard by God’). We are called to serve God in his Kingdom, according to God’s values, of love, mercy and holiness, inspired by the Son, Jesus. That affects the whole of our lives, at church, at home, in our neighbourhood, at work.
Now, you might say, it’s one thing to serve God at church-the ‘holy’ bit of our lives; it’s even possible to live ‘Christian’ lives in the privacy of our homes, working out our private religion; I can just about see it working out on a ‘love our neighbour’ basis amongst our neighbours – but what about in work - how will my Christian values guide me in a secular environment? This all about being called even at work. Here I’m drawing on a talk by Mark Green of the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity. (See http://www.transformworkuk.org/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=17541&file_id=19570 for the full talk).
First, telling the truth. We can stereotype modern working practice as just out for the money. ‘Give the customers what they want, even if it’s only because our ads have made them want it, and screw the employees’ rather like the joke memo above? But research shows that employers who work like that do not often succeed. In fact if you look at the values of successful businesses, their values are remarkably Christian. For employees to be motivated to work, they need to be able to believe the management. In other words the bosses (at all levels) need to show Integrity and to tell the truth. Nathaniel is commended by Jesus as one who is an example of a truthful person. He did not lie, but more than that he sought to represent the truth always. He was open, honest. Imagine working for a person like that!
Second, relationships. Good relationships make for productive workforce. One factory I visit had a change of management. The new lot wanted more productivity, so less talking, shorter breaks- the effect? Lower relationships, less motivation; in fact, lower productivity. The Kingdom of God is all about relationships, between us and God (motivating us to follow these values) and between each other (‘Love your neighbour, as yourself’). That makes for great relationships.
Third – purpose for humanity. The profit motive must not be the highest motivation. Profit motivated companies do not succeed like those who are giving something back to this world. Just think of the success of Body Shop. Why are firms getting into ‘ Fair Trade’, or acting green? It’s not just to keep good suppliers or to save money, although often both those happen. It’s good business sense. Doing good reaps its rewards – and not just in heaven. ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.
Lastly, Servant leadership. In business you do get people who succeed who are brash and loud – the Alan Sugar’s and Simon Cowell’s of this world, but a lot of great leaders are not arrogant and proud but are true servants, thinking about what is genuinely best for others instead of fighting to the top (people who do that make a lot of enemies who would love to join forces to bring them down). When you have a boss who cares about you, and wants you to succeed, you go the ‘extra mile’ for them, stay a little longer, pay more attention to detail, stop fighting for your own success and start fighting for the team. Jesus gave us the ultimate examples, in washing his disciples’ feet, in order to show them how to put each other first, then dying on a cross, rather than give up on love on the world he came to save, so we would all learn to love and serve each other, if inspired by him.
And if you llok at that list, it seems to me those values would help us follow are calling in the rest of our lives? Jesus calls us to serve him at church, at home, in our neighbourhood, even at work. So go in peace to love and serve the Lord… in the whole of your lives.
There’s a mythical memo doing the rounds;
Subject: CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT!
SICKDAYS: We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.
SURGERY: Operations are now banned. As long as you are an employee here, you need all your organs. You should not consider removing anything. We hired you intact.
PERSONAL DAYS: Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year, called Saturday & Sunday.
ANNUAL LEAVE: All employees will take their holidays at the same time every year: Jan. 1, Dec. 25 & 26
TOILET USE: Too much time is being spent in the toilet. In the future, we will go in alphabetical order. So, employees whose names begin with 'A' will go 8:00- 8:20, those with names beginning with 'B' 8:20-8:40 and so on. If you cannot go at your allotted time, you must wait until the next day when your turn comes again. In emergencies employees may swap their time with a co-worker. Both employees' supervisors must approve this in writing. Also, there is now a strict 3-minute time limit in the cubicles.
After three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, and the cubicle door will open.
The bible stories today are both about calling. If I worked for a boss who expected me to work like the above, I might feel called to work elsewhere. Yet all of us are called, as much as Nathaniel (meaning ‘Given by God’) and Samuel (‘Heard by God’). We are called to serve God in his Kingdom, according to God’s values, of love, mercy and holiness, inspired by the Son, Jesus. That affects the whole of our lives, at church, at home, in our neighbourhood, at work.
Now, you might say, it’s one thing to serve God at church-the ‘holy’ bit of our lives; it’s even possible to live ‘Christian’ lives in the privacy of our homes, working out our private religion; I can just about see it working out on a ‘love our neighbour’ basis amongst our neighbours – but what about in work - how will my Christian values guide me in a secular environment? This all about being called even at work. Here I’m drawing on a talk by Mark Green of the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity. (See http://www.transformworkuk.org/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=17541&file_id=19570 for the full talk).
First, telling the truth. We can stereotype modern working practice as just out for the money. ‘Give the customers what they want, even if it’s only because our ads have made them want it, and screw the employees’ rather like the joke memo above? But research shows that employers who work like that do not often succeed. In fact if you look at the values of successful businesses, their values are remarkably Christian. For employees to be motivated to work, they need to be able to believe the management. In other words the bosses (at all levels) need to show Integrity and to tell the truth. Nathaniel is commended by Jesus as one who is an example of a truthful person. He did not lie, but more than that he sought to represent the truth always. He was open, honest. Imagine working for a person like that!
Second, relationships. Good relationships make for productive workforce. One factory I visit had a change of management. The new lot wanted more productivity, so less talking, shorter breaks- the effect? Lower relationships, less motivation; in fact, lower productivity. The Kingdom of God is all about relationships, between us and God (motivating us to follow these values) and between each other (‘Love your neighbour, as yourself’). That makes for great relationships.
Third – purpose for humanity. The profit motive must not be the highest motivation. Profit motivated companies do not succeed like those who are giving something back to this world. Just think of the success of Body Shop. Why are firms getting into ‘ Fair Trade’, or acting green? It’s not just to keep good suppliers or to save money, although often both those happen. It’s good business sense. Doing good reaps its rewards – and not just in heaven. ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.
Lastly, Servant leadership. In business you do get people who succeed who are brash and loud – the Alan Sugar’s and Simon Cowell’s of this world, but a lot of great leaders are not arrogant and proud but are true servants, thinking about what is genuinely best for others instead of fighting to the top (people who do that make a lot of enemies who would love to join forces to bring them down). When you have a boss who cares about you, and wants you to succeed, you go the ‘extra mile’ for them, stay a little longer, pay more attention to detail, stop fighting for your own success and start fighting for the team. Jesus gave us the ultimate examples, in washing his disciples’ feet, in order to show them how to put each other first, then dying on a cross, rather than give up on love on the world he came to save, so we would all learn to love and serve each other, if inspired by him.
And if you llok at that list, it seems to me those values would help us follow are calling in the rest of our lives? Jesus calls us to serve him at church, at home, in our neighbourhood, even at work. So go in peace to love and serve the Lord… in the whole of your lives.
Brothers and Sisters
Sermon for 22nd February 2009 (Isaiah 43: 18-25; Mark 2: 1-12)
A phone-order operator for a mail-order catalogue was having a very busy day. The switchboard was jammed with calls, and most people were having to be put on hold. When she took one person off hold, she heard the person muttering mild curses into the phone. The operator laughed good-naturedly and said, "What may I help you with today?" The sheepish voice on the other line said, "I'm sorry. I want to place an order." "Alright," the operator said, "Now, I need your name first. "Oh, dear," she said, "how embarrassing. My name is Sister Patience."
In church we often see others as “brothers and sisters in Christ” even if they not from a religious order like Sister Patience. Sometimes it’s the right words but with no real practical meaning. How can we claim to be brothers and sisters when we can’t even relate to one another as friends?
An asylum seeker attended a local church for years without anyone making a move to get to know him, preferring their cosy cliques over coffee. So one day he wore his baseball cap to church. As soon as he took his lonely seat at the back of the church the usher came and said, “Brother, we don’t wear caps in church here.” “Thanks,” he replies but kept his cap on. Going up later for communion, another man pulled him aside, saying gently “My brother, wearing of caps is forbidden in our church.” “Thanks,” but the cap stays put. After the service the Vicar at the door greets him and then courteously adds, “But, my dear brother, wearing of caps in church is not allowed.” “I know,” says the man, “but I have been coming to this church for three years now and no one has ever noticed me before.”
Everyone called him ‘brother’, but he was dying of loneliness in a crowd of “brothers and sisters.” He might well have felt for the paralysed man in today’s gospel story who was at least as much ignored or despised; the events took place in Peter’s house in Capernaum. From early church history and archaeology we know that this later became one of the first Christian house churches- you can stand in it’s ruins today. So the early Christian readers of Mark’s Gospel would have known Peter’s house as a church and so assumed a church setting and the crowd as a ‘congregation’ all wanting a blessing of some kind from Jesus. Concerned for their own personal needs they were insensitive to someone who needed so much more, the paralytic; they could also have shared in the prejudice of that time that saw the sick as cursed by God. So the man was forgotten in their rush and struggle to get the attention of Jesus. He was forgotten in their rush and struggle to get the attention of Jesus. Perhaps as they left they might pass by him and drop a coin and say, “God bless you, brother.” For many of course, he would have not been a ‘brother’ at all. The sick were often seen as cursed by God- outside God’s family, just as asylum seekers are often seen as outside our society, even in churches!
The twist in the story comes when four men from this ‘congregation’ give him priority over their needs because they saw that his needs were greater. Meanwhile the ‘congregation’ just blocked their entry. But where there is a will there is a way, even if it meant un-roofing the church. And that is just what they did. “When Jesus saw their faith…” – his ‘friends’ faith, not that of the paralysed man – he healed the man, soul and body. So who were ‘brothers’ to this man?
Our words must be matched by our actions where there is a need. What we do matters more than what we say. When we buy fairly-traded goods, we act as ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’ to people we will never meet; when we reduce our carbon footprints, we act as siblings to those who are already suffering, and will do so more in the future, through increased droughts, or floods, bushfires or rising sea levels. We become ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’, to those we respond to in the love of Christ. And sometimes the support we give is out of all proportion with what we think we do. The four ‘friends’ who became brothers just gave him a lift. The same can happen now: Let me finish with a story:
A poor teenage football player was amazed to see a skinny little private school kid staggering home under a great pile of books. As had happened many times before he was suddenly picked on by some of the local youngsters. The books meant he could not escape. The footballer for once intervened despite resenting the boys assumed privilege in life. Afterwards as they chatted the footballer was surprised to find the other was quite an easy person to be with; they became friends and stayed so through their teenage years - even as one studied law at college and the other joined a professional football team. At his graduation the lawyer invited the footballer to share in his big day; at his valedictory speech the now successful young lawyer thanked all those who helped him get where he was that day – his parents, lecturers, teachers and friends. He then told the audience about the day he had met the footballer. They grew silent as he described how on that day he had been planning his suicide that very day The reason that he had so many books was that he had cleared out his locker that day so that his mother would not have to do so after his death.
A phone-order operator for a mail-order catalogue was having a very busy day. The switchboard was jammed with calls, and most people were having to be put on hold. When she took one person off hold, she heard the person muttering mild curses into the phone. The operator laughed good-naturedly and said, "What may I help you with today?" The sheepish voice on the other line said, "I'm sorry. I want to place an order." "Alright," the operator said, "Now, I need your name first. "Oh, dear," she said, "how embarrassing. My name is Sister Patience."
In church we often see others as “brothers and sisters in Christ” even if they not from a religious order like Sister Patience. Sometimes it’s the right words but with no real practical meaning. How can we claim to be brothers and sisters when we can’t even relate to one another as friends?
An asylum seeker attended a local church for years without anyone making a move to get to know him, preferring their cosy cliques over coffee. So one day he wore his baseball cap to church. As soon as he took his lonely seat at the back of the church the usher came and said, “Brother, we don’t wear caps in church here.” “Thanks,” he replies but kept his cap on. Going up later for communion, another man pulled him aside, saying gently “My brother, wearing of caps is forbidden in our church.” “Thanks,” but the cap stays put. After the service the Vicar at the door greets him and then courteously adds, “But, my dear brother, wearing of caps in church is not allowed.” “I know,” says the man, “but I have been coming to this church for three years now and no one has ever noticed me before.”
Everyone called him ‘brother’, but he was dying of loneliness in a crowd of “brothers and sisters.” He might well have felt for the paralysed man in today’s gospel story who was at least as much ignored or despised; the events took place in Peter’s house in Capernaum. From early church history and archaeology we know that this later became one of the first Christian house churches- you can stand in it’s ruins today. So the early Christian readers of Mark’s Gospel would have known Peter’s house as a church and so assumed a church setting and the crowd as a ‘congregation’ all wanting a blessing of some kind from Jesus. Concerned for their own personal needs they were insensitive to someone who needed so much more, the paralytic; they could also have shared in the prejudice of that time that saw the sick as cursed by God. So the man was forgotten in their rush and struggle to get the attention of Jesus. He was forgotten in their rush and struggle to get the attention of Jesus. Perhaps as they left they might pass by him and drop a coin and say, “God bless you, brother.” For many of course, he would have not been a ‘brother’ at all. The sick were often seen as cursed by God- outside God’s family, just as asylum seekers are often seen as outside our society, even in churches!
The twist in the story comes when four men from this ‘congregation’ give him priority over their needs because they saw that his needs were greater. Meanwhile the ‘congregation’ just blocked their entry. But where there is a will there is a way, even if it meant un-roofing the church. And that is just what they did. “When Jesus saw their faith…” – his ‘friends’ faith, not that of the paralysed man – he healed the man, soul and body. So who were ‘brothers’ to this man?
Our words must be matched by our actions where there is a need. What we do matters more than what we say. When we buy fairly-traded goods, we act as ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’ to people we will never meet; when we reduce our carbon footprints, we act as siblings to those who are already suffering, and will do so more in the future, through increased droughts, or floods, bushfires or rising sea levels. We become ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’, to those we respond to in the love of Christ. And sometimes the support we give is out of all proportion with what we think we do. The four ‘friends’ who became brothers just gave him a lift. The same can happen now: Let me finish with a story:
A poor teenage football player was amazed to see a skinny little private school kid staggering home under a great pile of books. As had happened many times before he was suddenly picked on by some of the local youngsters. The books meant he could not escape. The footballer for once intervened despite resenting the boys assumed privilege in life. Afterwards as they chatted the footballer was surprised to find the other was quite an easy person to be with; they became friends and stayed so through their teenage years - even as one studied law at college and the other joined a professional football team. At his graduation the lawyer invited the footballer to share in his big day; at his valedictory speech the now successful young lawyer thanked all those who helped him get where he was that day – his parents, lecturers, teachers and friends. He then told the audience about the day he had met the footballer. They grew silent as he described how on that day he had been planning his suicide that very day The reason that he had so many books was that he had cleared out his locker that day so that his mother would not have to do so after his death.
John the Baptist
Sermon for 6th Dec (Is 40: 1-11; Mark 1: 1-8)
It was October. The native Indians on a remote reservation asked their new Chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Not knowing the old secrets, he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. To be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold so everyone should collect firewood. But just to check he called the National Weather Service and them. "It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold," the meteorologist replied. So the Chief told his people to collect even more firewood to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service “Is it going to be a very cold winter?" "Yes," the man "a very cold winter." The Chief told his people to collect every scrap of firewood they could find. Two weeks later the Chief again asked about the weather. "Absolutely certain, probably one of the coldest winters ever." "How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked. The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy."
Today we’re not talking about Red Indians but someone who might seem like one - John the Baptist as he prepares people for the coming of Jesus. For us it’s a challenge to look at out lives as we prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus at Christmas during Advent and as we look ahead to the second coming when Jesus will return as judge of all our hearts. John’s message is simple and two-old ‘Repent’; ‘Be forgiven’. To prepare for Jesus in our lives, we need to hear both messages – and respond.
John was not comfortable to be around. He is not the sort of person you would invite to a party. Those who went out to see him knew they would make him feel uncomfortable. So why did they go, and why do we listen now? Because they knew, and at least some of us know that he was something that was really important, something that would change them; something that would make them better people, more whole, more like God.
So what do we know about him. He was related to Jesus, a little older.. He had been born in extraordinary circumstances. His parents were exceptionally old to start a family and no longer expected to have the joy of children. His parents were Elizabeth, a cousin of Jesus’ mother and Zechariah, one of the temple priests. It was when it was Zechariah’s turn to minister in the holiest place in the Jerusalem temple when the same Angel Gabriel who later spoke to Mary cam e to him and told him they were to have a son, who they were to call John and he would prepare the way for Jesus. Zechariah, understandably didn’t believe him so was made dumb until the baby was born and it was only as the family were discussing what to call him that his speech was restored. He was never to drink wine or beer and would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. We then know nothing about him until he starts a ministry as a man in his thirties. And his ministry challenges us in three ways: 1) Lifestyle, 2) our involvement in our world concerns 3) our hearts
1) Our lifestyles: John looks like the ultimate eco-warrior. He wears hard wearing (but uncomfortable) camel’s hair coat, a leather belt and lives off the land, eating locusts and wild honey. Zero carbon footprint. So without saying anything he challenges us to a simpler lifestyle. Do we need all we have – could we live with less? Do we need endless national growth? (for which someone else has to pay?) Each Christmas everyone seems to want to eat and drink three times what we normally eat or drink and to spend money on expensive presents. And actually, what has that to do with the real meaning of Christmas? My half of the family meets each year down south for a meal and we play ‘Secret Santa’ to get away from this obsession with money; we have all been given one person to but a present for, as the present from us all with a maximum spend of £5; we don’t know who it’s from. It changes the focus from what we are gettign, to just enjoying each other. John challenges our lifestyle. So I walked to church.
2) Our involvement with the world around us. John was doing more than challenging excessive lifestyles. John’s clothes reminded people of a much earlier prophet, Elijah. Elijah even the kings of Israel to repent, to care for the poor, to see there was justice for all, especially of a rather nasty piece of work called Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Christians are always called to challenge those in power, whether its about fighting unjustifiable wars like Iraq, or banks becoemign excessively greedy, or governments in the trade rules they impose on other countries, or taking global warming or aid to poorer countries seriously. John challenged even the king of the country, Herod. It costs him his life, as he knew it would, but it didn’t stop him challenging Herod. So John calls us to challenge those in power too for other’s sakes
3) A change of heart: But John also speaks to us. In the programme ‘Outnumbered’ last night the little girl in the series was trying to sort out the problem of evil. Her father had suggested that most people in the world are good but some are bad. Her solution? “Why don’t all the good people kill all the bad people” (we might laugh but is that different from Bush’s solution in Iraq?). John’s solution is very different. ‘Repent’ and ‘be forgiven’ he says. What does ‘repent mean? Repent means ‘turn round’ go the other way. Stop doing what you want, start doing the right thing. Start doing what God wants. Change your heart. And forgiveness follows. That is the message of Advent. It’s the message to us, too.
It was October. The native Indians on a remote reservation asked their new Chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Not knowing the old secrets, he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. To be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold so everyone should collect firewood. But just to check he called the National Weather Service and them. "It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold," the meteorologist replied. So the Chief told his people to collect even more firewood to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service “Is it going to be a very cold winter?" "Yes," the man "a very cold winter." The Chief told his people to collect every scrap of firewood they could find. Two weeks later the Chief again asked about the weather. "Absolutely certain, probably one of the coldest winters ever." "How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked. The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy."
Today we’re not talking about Red Indians but someone who might seem like one - John the Baptist as he prepares people for the coming of Jesus. For us it’s a challenge to look at out lives as we prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus at Christmas during Advent and as we look ahead to the second coming when Jesus will return as judge of all our hearts. John’s message is simple and two-old ‘Repent’; ‘Be forgiven’. To prepare for Jesus in our lives, we need to hear both messages – and respond.
John was not comfortable to be around. He is not the sort of person you would invite to a party. Those who went out to see him knew they would make him feel uncomfortable. So why did they go, and why do we listen now? Because they knew, and at least some of us know that he was something that was really important, something that would change them; something that would make them better people, more whole, more like God.
So what do we know about him. He was related to Jesus, a little older.. He had been born in extraordinary circumstances. His parents were exceptionally old to start a family and no longer expected to have the joy of children. His parents were Elizabeth, a cousin of Jesus’ mother and Zechariah, one of the temple priests. It was when it was Zechariah’s turn to minister in the holiest place in the Jerusalem temple when the same Angel Gabriel who later spoke to Mary cam e to him and told him they were to have a son, who they were to call John and he would prepare the way for Jesus. Zechariah, understandably didn’t believe him so was made dumb until the baby was born and it was only as the family were discussing what to call him that his speech was restored. He was never to drink wine or beer and would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. We then know nothing about him until he starts a ministry as a man in his thirties. And his ministry challenges us in three ways: 1) Lifestyle, 2) our involvement in our world concerns 3) our hearts
1) Our lifestyles: John looks like the ultimate eco-warrior. He wears hard wearing (but uncomfortable) camel’s hair coat, a leather belt and lives off the land, eating locusts and wild honey. Zero carbon footprint. So without saying anything he challenges us to a simpler lifestyle. Do we need all we have – could we live with less? Do we need endless national growth? (for which someone else has to pay?) Each Christmas everyone seems to want to eat and drink three times what we normally eat or drink and to spend money on expensive presents. And actually, what has that to do with the real meaning of Christmas? My half of the family meets each year down south for a meal and we play ‘Secret Santa’ to get away from this obsession with money; we have all been given one person to but a present for, as the present from us all with a maximum spend of £5; we don’t know who it’s from. It changes the focus from what we are gettign, to just enjoying each other. John challenges our lifestyle. So I walked to church.
2) Our involvement with the world around us. John was doing more than challenging excessive lifestyles. John’s clothes reminded people of a much earlier prophet, Elijah. Elijah even the kings of Israel to repent, to care for the poor, to see there was justice for all, especially of a rather nasty piece of work called Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Christians are always called to challenge those in power, whether its about fighting unjustifiable wars like Iraq, or banks becoemign excessively greedy, or governments in the trade rules they impose on other countries, or taking global warming or aid to poorer countries seriously. John challenged even the king of the country, Herod. It costs him his life, as he knew it would, but it didn’t stop him challenging Herod. So John calls us to challenge those in power too for other’s sakes
3) A change of heart: But John also speaks to us. In the programme ‘Outnumbered’ last night the little girl in the series was trying to sort out the problem of evil. Her father had suggested that most people in the world are good but some are bad. Her solution? “Why don’t all the good people kill all the bad people” (we might laugh but is that different from Bush’s solution in Iraq?). John’s solution is very different. ‘Repent’ and ‘be forgiven’ he says. What does ‘repent mean? Repent means ‘turn round’ go the other way. Stop doing what you want, start doing the right thing. Start doing what God wants. Change your heart. And forgiveness follows. That is the message of Advent. It’s the message to us, too.
Choices
Sermon for 29th March 2009 (Jer. 31:31-34; Jn 12: 20-33)
A devout farm-worker lost his favourite Bible while he was mending fences out on his Yorkshire farm range. Three weeks later, a cow walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth. The worker couldn't believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of the cow's mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!" "Not really," said the cow. "Your name is written inside t’ cover."
This morning we come to celebrate a birth and a life, - a very real miracle as the start, we pray, of the greater miracle of someone finding Christ in their lives. That is what Jesus challenging us to think – ‘What is life really about? What are you lives about?- my life? Bailey’s life? What really matters to you? What gets you up in the morning? Steve and Rae have brought little boy, Bailey, here this morning to say something. They say, in effect, we want little Bailey to follow Jesus; there is something about this man. I know you already have plans for him – ice-hockey player for one. But this morning’s reading says, what about the bigger plan? Who will ultimately shape his life.
A great man once said ‘If you do not worship something you will worship anything’. In the same way, if you do not follow something, or someone, you will follow anyone. I confess that this morning I turned on to find out how the first Grand Prix of the year was doing. In a sense I follow Lewis Hamilton (driving a bus this year) and now Jenson Button, but I know that ultimately even Grand prix racing, or football (even in England did well yesterday), is not what I am here for.
Jesus makes no bones about it. He is on his way to die, for the sake of all that is good, and kind, and generous. His whole life has been about serving others, so that others might see the love of God. ‘Get real!’ he says to people, like you and me, ‘Who will you serve?’
Day by day we have to make difficult choices, do I join in gossip about someone, do you?
Baileys, parents Steve and Rae are making a choice for Bailey today. Some day he will have to make that decision for himself. And for the rest of us, what will we choose. Will it be the costly way of love, following Christ, or someone else?
A devout farm-worker lost his favourite Bible while he was mending fences out on his Yorkshire farm range. Three weeks later, a cow walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth. The worker couldn't believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of the cow's mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!" "Not really," said the cow. "Your name is written inside t’ cover."
This morning we come to celebrate a birth and a life, - a very real miracle as the start, we pray, of the greater miracle of someone finding Christ in their lives. That is what Jesus challenging us to think – ‘What is life really about? What are you lives about?- my life? Bailey’s life? What really matters to you? What gets you up in the morning? Steve and Rae have brought little boy, Bailey, here this morning to say something. They say, in effect, we want little Bailey to follow Jesus; there is something about this man. I know you already have plans for him – ice-hockey player for one. But this morning’s reading says, what about the bigger plan? Who will ultimately shape his life.
A great man once said ‘If you do not worship something you will worship anything’. In the same way, if you do not follow something, or someone, you will follow anyone. I confess that this morning I turned on to find out how the first Grand Prix of the year was doing. In a sense I follow Lewis Hamilton (driving a bus this year) and now Jenson Button, but I know that ultimately even Grand prix racing, or football (even in England did well yesterday), is not what I am here for.
Jesus makes no bones about it. He is on his way to die, for the sake of all that is good, and kind, and generous. His whole life has been about serving others, so that others might see the love of God. ‘Get real!’ he says to people, like you and me, ‘Who will you serve?’
Day by day we have to make difficult choices, do I join in gossip about someone, do you?
Baileys, parents Steve and Rae are making a choice for Bailey today. Some day he will have to make that decision for himself. And for the rest of us, what will we choose. Will it be the costly way of love, following Christ, or someone else?
Camels and Deserts
Sermon for 1st March 2009 (Gen 9: 8-17, Mk 1: 9-15)
A mother camel and her baby are talking one day and the baby camel asks, “Mum, why have we got these huge three-toed feet?” The mother replies, “To allow us to walk across the soft sand of the desert without sinking.” “And why have we got these long, heavy eyelashes?” “To keep the sand out of our eyes on the trips through the desert ”replies the mother camel. “And Mum, why have we got these big humps on our backs?” The mother, now a little impatient with the boy replies, “They are there to help us store fat for our long trecks across the desert, so we can go without water for long periods.” “OK, I get it!” says the baby camel, “We have huge feet to stop us sinking, long eyelashes to keep the sand from our eyes and humps to store water. Then, Mum, so why do we live here in London Zoo?”
Modern life sometimes makes one feel like a camel in a zoo. Like camels in a zoo we need sometimes to go into the desert in order to discover who we truly are. Lent invites us to enter into this kind of desert experience.
The desert was the birthplace of the people of God. For 40 years they wandered, and camped, wandered and camped, gradually shedding their self-reliance and learning the vital lesson that they needed God; not just for the Sabbath as an object of worship, but they needed him in all of their lives. They needed God to shape their lives, to make a nation, a society, a place of hope and peace. They came out of the desert changed by their experience.
And they were led by one man who had already learned from the desert: Moses was a proud young man from the Pharaoh’s household until he intervened to save one of his own Hebrew people; he then became a refugee, in the desert for 40 years. A young proud man went into the desert, a wiser, humbler man left it, a man ready to listen to God.
The Gospel reading today is first about John, speaking from the desert, but his prophetic ministry was modeled on a much earlier prophet, Elijah, hugely faithful, but when the chips were down his doubts returned; where did he really learn to trust God – in the desert.
John follows in that tradition, from an early age living in the desert, so that by hid early 30‘s he was ready to prepare the way for Jesus.
Finally Jesus, having been baptized by this strange character, has his own ‘40’ – 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, fasting, alone, except for God.
Down the ages Christians have literally gone into the desert, to face themselves and their limitations, and to meet God in that emptiness without distractions. (Mark 1:12-13).
The desert is the university where God teaches his people. So what is our desert this Lent? How do we create that space for ourselves? May I suggest three things we need:
I) Desert on your own- ‘quiet times’ each day, space alone to be quiet with God, – space to pray, space to read a bit of the Gospels and to ask ‘What is this saying to me?’, space to listen. Just as Jesus faced wild beasts in the desert, we need to listen to recognise the ‘beasts’ in us, and confess these to break their power. Just two tips on doing this:
· Don’t try too long - at first a few minutes may be what you can cope with, build up slowly
· Work out when; late at night I fall asleep if I try this, but that might be your time
II) Desert space with others, bible study, or Lent lectures (see the notices for details), space to talk through with others on the same journey about you believe God is saying to you, to check out what you hear and perhaps to help someone else – we are, ultimately intended for community, so sometimes we need to share our desert places
III) Oasis space to join with the whole community in worship and learning each Sunday as a model for life. Like eating three meals a day, or regular exercise, so we need regular worship, with our community, to begin to prepare ourselves for our ultimate goal, of heavenly worship beyond this life
In the desert we come to know ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, and our divine calling. Lent is the time for the desert experience. We can’t all buy a camel and head off for the desert. But we can all create a desert space in our overcrowded lives. We can set times to be alone daily with God, spaces to share in learning from God, and times to worship alongside others, in their deserts, a time to hear God’s word, a time to rediscover who we are before God. Welcome to Lent! Welcome to the desert!
A mother camel and her baby are talking one day and the baby camel asks, “Mum, why have we got these huge three-toed feet?” The mother replies, “To allow us to walk across the soft sand of the desert without sinking.” “And why have we got these long, heavy eyelashes?” “To keep the sand out of our eyes on the trips through the desert ”replies the mother camel. “And Mum, why have we got these big humps on our backs?” The mother, now a little impatient with the boy replies, “They are there to help us store fat for our long trecks across the desert, so we can go without water for long periods.” “OK, I get it!” says the baby camel, “We have huge feet to stop us sinking, long eyelashes to keep the sand from our eyes and humps to store water. Then, Mum, so why do we live here in London Zoo?”
Modern life sometimes makes one feel like a camel in a zoo. Like camels in a zoo we need sometimes to go into the desert in order to discover who we truly are. Lent invites us to enter into this kind of desert experience.
The desert was the birthplace of the people of God. For 40 years they wandered, and camped, wandered and camped, gradually shedding their self-reliance and learning the vital lesson that they needed God; not just for the Sabbath as an object of worship, but they needed him in all of their lives. They needed God to shape their lives, to make a nation, a society, a place of hope and peace. They came out of the desert changed by their experience.
And they were led by one man who had already learned from the desert: Moses was a proud young man from the Pharaoh’s household until he intervened to save one of his own Hebrew people; he then became a refugee, in the desert for 40 years. A young proud man went into the desert, a wiser, humbler man left it, a man ready to listen to God.
The Gospel reading today is first about John, speaking from the desert, but his prophetic ministry was modeled on a much earlier prophet, Elijah, hugely faithful, but when the chips were down his doubts returned; where did he really learn to trust God – in the desert.
John follows in that tradition, from an early age living in the desert, so that by hid early 30‘s he was ready to prepare the way for Jesus.
Finally Jesus, having been baptized by this strange character, has his own ‘40’ – 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, fasting, alone, except for God.
Down the ages Christians have literally gone into the desert, to face themselves and their limitations, and to meet God in that emptiness without distractions. (Mark 1:12-13).
The desert is the university where God teaches his people. So what is our desert this Lent? How do we create that space for ourselves? May I suggest three things we need:
I) Desert on your own- ‘quiet times’ each day, space alone to be quiet with God, – space to pray, space to read a bit of the Gospels and to ask ‘What is this saying to me?’, space to listen. Just as Jesus faced wild beasts in the desert, we need to listen to recognise the ‘beasts’ in us, and confess these to break their power. Just two tips on doing this:
· Don’t try too long - at first a few minutes may be what you can cope with, build up slowly
· Work out when; late at night I fall asleep if I try this, but that might be your time
II) Desert space with others, bible study, or Lent lectures (see the notices for details), space to talk through with others on the same journey about you believe God is saying to you, to check out what you hear and perhaps to help someone else – we are, ultimately intended for community, so sometimes we need to share our desert places
III) Oasis space to join with the whole community in worship and learning each Sunday as a model for life. Like eating three meals a day, or regular exercise, so we need regular worship, with our community, to begin to prepare ourselves for our ultimate goal, of heavenly worship beyond this life
In the desert we come to know ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, and our divine calling. Lent is the time for the desert experience. We can’t all buy a camel and head off for the desert. But we can all create a desert space in our overcrowded lives. We can set times to be alone daily with God, spaces to share in learning from God, and times to worship alongside others, in their deserts, a time to hear God’s word, a time to rediscover who we are before God. Welcome to Lent! Welcome to the desert!
Talented?
Sermon for 16th Nov (Zeph 1: 7,12-18,Matt 25: 14-30)
A priest was being honoured with a retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was asked to make the speech at the dinner. He was delayed so the priest decided to say a few words while they waited. “When I first arrived, my first confession made me think I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional, whoever he was, told me he had stolen a television set and, when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled money from work, had an affair with his boss's wife, taken illegal drugs, and gave VD to three women. I was appalled. But soon I ealised you are in fact a parish full good and loving people." Just then the politician arrived apologising for being late, and immediately began his talk. "I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived. In fact, I had the honour of being the first one to go to him in confession."
A man got mad with God. “God,” he said, I have been praying daily for three years that I should win the state lottery. You told us to ask and we shall receive. How come I never received all these three years I have been asking?” Then he heard the voice of God, loud and clear. “My dear son,” says God. “Please do me a favour and buy a lottery ticket.” This is not supposed to be a promotional for state lotteries. Rather it illustrates the saying: “If you wanna win, you got to play.” There are two kinds of people in our churches today: risk-takers and care-takers. The problem with care-takers is that they might show up at the undertaker’s with little to show for the lives they have lived. Jesus warns us against this in today’s gospel Parable of the Talents.
In the parable we hear about “a man going on a journey who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability” (Matt 25:15). From the beginning of the story we are told that the servant who received just one talent is a man of little ability. He is not a genius. Yet it is interesting to note that the master has a talent even for his relatively disabled servant. All God’s children have got their talents, even those who appear to have very minimal abilities in comparison with the more gifted ones.
The master departs and the first two servants “went off at once and traded” with their talents. The third servant, on the other hand, digs a hole in the ground and buries his one talent. Why does he do that? Because he is afraid he is going to lose it if he trades with it. He must have reasoned like this: “Well, those with more talents can afford to take a risk. If they lost a talent, they could make it up later. But me, I have only one talent. If I lose it, end of story! So I better play it safe and just take care of it.” Many of us in the church are like this third servant. Because we do not see ourselves as possessing outstanding gifts and talents, we conclude that there is nothing that we do. Do you know a woman who loves to sing but who would not join the choir because she is afraid she is not gifted with a golden voice? Do you know a young man who would like to spread the gospel but is afraid he does not know enough Bible and theology? When people like this end up doing nothing, they are following in the footsteps of the third servant who buried his one talent in the ground.
The surprise in the story comes when the master returns and demands an account from the servants. First, we discover that even though the first servant with five talents had made five more talents and the second servant with two talents had made two more talents, both of them receive exactly the same compliments: “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (verses 21, 23). They are rewarded not in proportion to how many talents each has made but in proportion to how many talents each of them started off with. Booker T. Washington was right on target when he said that “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles that one has overcome while trying to succeed.”
There are more reasons than one why the third servant decided to hide his talent. Maybe he compared himself to the other servants with more talents, saw himself at the bottom rung of the ladder, and became discouraged. He did not realise that with his one talent, if he made just one more talent, he would be rewarded equally as the servant with five talents who made five more. We are not all measured by the same rule. To whom much is given, much is required.
All of us in the church today have received at least one talent. We have received the gift of faith. Our responsibility as men and women of faith is not just to preserve and “keep” the faith. We need to trade with it. We need to sell it to the men and women of our times. We need to promote and add value to faith. This is a venture that brings with it much risk and inconvenience. But, unless we do this, we stand in danger of losing the faith just as the third servant lost his talent. The way to preserve the faith, or any other talent that God has given us, is to put it to work and make it bear fruit.
A priest was being honoured with a retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was asked to make the speech at the dinner. He was delayed so the priest decided to say a few words while they waited. “When I first arrived, my first confession made me think I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional, whoever he was, told me he had stolen a television set and, when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled money from work, had an affair with his boss's wife, taken illegal drugs, and gave VD to three women. I was appalled. But soon I ealised you are in fact a parish full good and loving people." Just then the politician arrived apologising for being late, and immediately began his talk. "I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived. In fact, I had the honour of being the first one to go to him in confession."
A man got mad with God. “God,” he said, I have been praying daily for three years that I should win the state lottery. You told us to ask and we shall receive. How come I never received all these three years I have been asking?” Then he heard the voice of God, loud and clear. “My dear son,” says God. “Please do me a favour and buy a lottery ticket.” This is not supposed to be a promotional for state lotteries. Rather it illustrates the saying: “If you wanna win, you got to play.” There are two kinds of people in our churches today: risk-takers and care-takers. The problem with care-takers is that they might show up at the undertaker’s with little to show for the lives they have lived. Jesus warns us against this in today’s gospel Parable of the Talents.
In the parable we hear about “a man going on a journey who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability” (Matt 25:15). From the beginning of the story we are told that the servant who received just one talent is a man of little ability. He is not a genius. Yet it is interesting to note that the master has a talent even for his relatively disabled servant. All God’s children have got their talents, even those who appear to have very minimal abilities in comparison with the more gifted ones.
The master departs and the first two servants “went off at once and traded” with their talents. The third servant, on the other hand, digs a hole in the ground and buries his one talent. Why does he do that? Because he is afraid he is going to lose it if he trades with it. He must have reasoned like this: “Well, those with more talents can afford to take a risk. If they lost a talent, they could make it up later. But me, I have only one talent. If I lose it, end of story! So I better play it safe and just take care of it.” Many of us in the church are like this third servant. Because we do not see ourselves as possessing outstanding gifts and talents, we conclude that there is nothing that we do. Do you know a woman who loves to sing but who would not join the choir because she is afraid she is not gifted with a golden voice? Do you know a young man who would like to spread the gospel but is afraid he does not know enough Bible and theology? When people like this end up doing nothing, they are following in the footsteps of the third servant who buried his one talent in the ground.
The surprise in the story comes when the master returns and demands an account from the servants. First, we discover that even though the first servant with five talents had made five more talents and the second servant with two talents had made two more talents, both of them receive exactly the same compliments: “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (verses 21, 23). They are rewarded not in proportion to how many talents each has made but in proportion to how many talents each of them started off with. Booker T. Washington was right on target when he said that “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles that one has overcome while trying to succeed.”
There are more reasons than one why the third servant decided to hide his talent. Maybe he compared himself to the other servants with more talents, saw himself at the bottom rung of the ladder, and became discouraged. He did not realise that with his one talent, if he made just one more talent, he would be rewarded equally as the servant with five talents who made five more. We are not all measured by the same rule. To whom much is given, much is required.
All of us in the church today have received at least one talent. We have received the gift of faith. Our responsibility as men and women of faith is not just to preserve and “keep” the faith. We need to trade with it. We need to sell it to the men and women of our times. We need to promote and add value to faith. This is a venture that brings with it much risk and inconvenience. But, unless we do this, we stand in danger of losing the faith just as the third servant lost his talent. The way to preserve the faith, or any other talent that God has given us, is to put it to work and make it bear fruit.
Three Blondes
Sermon for 12th April 2009 Isaiah 25: 6-9,John 20: 1-18) Easter Sunday
Three blondes die and arrive at the pearly gates. St. Peter tells them that they can enter if they can answer one simple question. He asks the first, "What is Easter?" The first blonde replies, "Oh, that's easy! It's the holiday in November when everyone builds bonfires and sets off fireworks. "Wrong!," replies St. Peter, and asks the second blonde "What is Easter?" She replies, "Easter is the holiday in December when we put up a nice tree, exchange presents, and celebrate the birth of Jesus." St. Peter groans and tells her she's wrong, and then peers over his glasses at the third blonde. He asks, "What is Easter?" The third blonde looks St. Peter in the eyes, "I know what Easter is." "Oh?" says St. Peter, not convinced. "Easter is the Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover. Jesus and his disciples were eating at the last supper and Jesus was later deceived and turned over to the Romans by one of his disciples. The Romans took him to be crucified; made to wear a crown of thorns, and was hung on a cross with nails through his hands. He was buried in a nearby cave which was sealed off by a large boulder." St. Peter is delighted. She continues, "Every year the boulder is moved aside so that Jesus can come out... and, if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter.
On Easter Sunday three women (although only Mary Magdalene is mentioned in John’s account), not blondes came to Jesus, tomb, expecting to start again, which is what Easter is all about. For them this was not a joyous starting again. This was the kind of starting again that comes to all of us sooner or later, when someone close to us dies, or we lose our job and like now there’s little chance of another one, or perhaps something really valuable has been stolen or destroyed by fire, or for some reason our cherished dreams become impossible. It’s a starting again, when you know you are alive because you are still breathing but life seems empty and purposeless, and all you feel is pain, and the ‘why?’ questions flow – ‘why me?’, ‘why should this happen?’, ‘why didn’t you stop this Lord?’, ‘why, why, why…..’ and ‘how do I go on from here?’ and feeling desperately helpless. For the three women it was all of that, the death of someone they loved, the end of their dreams, all that was valuable lost and wondering where God was in all of this. And feeling desperately helpless. So they decide to do something, to feel perhaps, that life had some purpose, some meaning, - they went to do the last thing they would ever be able to do for the man they all loved, to prepare his body for burial. So that cold Easter morning they set out to the dreaded tomb, wondering how on earth they were to get in to the tomb. What about the guards; what about he stone – too heavy for them to move! But when they arrive –no guards, and no stone. More disorientation – what they had expected was not there. In times of great loss what we need is some stability, some certainty – here was yet more uncertainty- what could this mean? It was all too much so they left in confusion. They did what any of us would do; they turned to those closest to them for help – they ran to the disciples. Mary blurts out what has happened and two of the men do the heroic men bit, go to rescue the women from their ‘dizzy’ confusion (perhaps seeing them as ‘blondes’ too?). But for them inside they too would have been panicking, too – what could all of this mean? Where on earth are you God!!!!!!!!!???
So they come to the temple, John outrunning Peter gets there first but looks in from outside. Peter, impulsive Peter charges straight in to find?….. empty bands of cloth that had been used to wrap Jesus’ body for the brief burial on Friday……….. and nothing else. Mary meanwhile must have followed more slowly after them, now desperate with anxiety and loss. Who can help? Who can make some sense of all that has happened? In times like these we turn even to strangers for help. So did Mary Magdalene. The stranger was the gardener. In answer to all her questions he replies simply, ‘Mary’. A stranger knows her name? Suddenly in all her confusion, she knows, she understands – not how, of course, but that Jesus was alive. For Mary, this was a new start that she could not in her wildest dreams have imagined.
In her loss she had questioned everything, even God. Now suddenly, before her is God himself, God incarnate, a second time made in the flesh. Jesus was there all the time. It’s just that Mary had not seen him. God was still in control and had a plan. Mary had not seen that either. Now she did.
Easter is a new start for Mary. It’s also a new start for all humanity. Easter says that no matter how dark life is, there is always hope. Easter says, no matter how much we doubt God being with us, he is there with us always. Easter says when so much of our life seems over, God offers us a new start.
On that Easter morning, there were perhaps, even more questions than answers. Mary Magdalene had so much more to learn, and she was no dizzy blonde. The fact that we have questions about Easter does not stop the reality of it being true. And the truth and hope of Easter is believed in, and lived out, 2000 years later by a third of the people in this world. As we say each Sunday. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again….. still alive, still with us, to take us home to be with him for ever.
Three blondes die and arrive at the pearly gates. St. Peter tells them that they can enter if they can answer one simple question. He asks the first, "What is Easter?" The first blonde replies, "Oh, that's easy! It's the holiday in November when everyone builds bonfires and sets off fireworks. "Wrong!," replies St. Peter, and asks the second blonde "What is Easter?" She replies, "Easter is the holiday in December when we put up a nice tree, exchange presents, and celebrate the birth of Jesus." St. Peter groans and tells her she's wrong, and then peers over his glasses at the third blonde. He asks, "What is Easter?" The third blonde looks St. Peter in the eyes, "I know what Easter is." "Oh?" says St. Peter, not convinced. "Easter is the Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover. Jesus and his disciples were eating at the last supper and Jesus was later deceived and turned over to the Romans by one of his disciples. The Romans took him to be crucified; made to wear a crown of thorns, and was hung on a cross with nails through his hands. He was buried in a nearby cave which was sealed off by a large boulder." St. Peter is delighted. She continues, "Every year the boulder is moved aside so that Jesus can come out... and, if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter.
On Easter Sunday three women (although only Mary Magdalene is mentioned in John’s account), not blondes came to Jesus, tomb, expecting to start again, which is what Easter is all about. For them this was not a joyous starting again. This was the kind of starting again that comes to all of us sooner or later, when someone close to us dies, or we lose our job and like now there’s little chance of another one, or perhaps something really valuable has been stolen or destroyed by fire, or for some reason our cherished dreams become impossible. It’s a starting again, when you know you are alive because you are still breathing but life seems empty and purposeless, and all you feel is pain, and the ‘why?’ questions flow – ‘why me?’, ‘why should this happen?’, ‘why didn’t you stop this Lord?’, ‘why, why, why…..’ and ‘how do I go on from here?’ and feeling desperately helpless. For the three women it was all of that, the death of someone they loved, the end of their dreams, all that was valuable lost and wondering where God was in all of this. And feeling desperately helpless. So they decide to do something, to feel perhaps, that life had some purpose, some meaning, - they went to do the last thing they would ever be able to do for the man they all loved, to prepare his body for burial. So that cold Easter morning they set out to the dreaded tomb, wondering how on earth they were to get in to the tomb. What about the guards; what about he stone – too heavy for them to move! But when they arrive –no guards, and no stone. More disorientation – what they had expected was not there. In times of great loss what we need is some stability, some certainty – here was yet more uncertainty- what could this mean? It was all too much so they left in confusion. They did what any of us would do; they turned to those closest to them for help – they ran to the disciples. Mary blurts out what has happened and two of the men do the heroic men bit, go to rescue the women from their ‘dizzy’ confusion (perhaps seeing them as ‘blondes’ too?). But for them inside they too would have been panicking, too – what could all of this mean? Where on earth are you God!!!!!!!!!???
So they come to the temple, John outrunning Peter gets there first but looks in from outside. Peter, impulsive Peter charges straight in to find?….. empty bands of cloth that had been used to wrap Jesus’ body for the brief burial on Friday……….. and nothing else. Mary meanwhile must have followed more slowly after them, now desperate with anxiety and loss. Who can help? Who can make some sense of all that has happened? In times like these we turn even to strangers for help. So did Mary Magdalene. The stranger was the gardener. In answer to all her questions he replies simply, ‘Mary’. A stranger knows her name? Suddenly in all her confusion, she knows, she understands – not how, of course, but that Jesus was alive. For Mary, this was a new start that she could not in her wildest dreams have imagined.
In her loss she had questioned everything, even God. Now suddenly, before her is God himself, God incarnate, a second time made in the flesh. Jesus was there all the time. It’s just that Mary had not seen him. God was still in control and had a plan. Mary had not seen that either. Now she did.
Easter is a new start for Mary. It’s also a new start for all humanity. Easter says that no matter how dark life is, there is always hope. Easter says, no matter how much we doubt God being with us, he is there with us always. Easter says when so much of our life seems over, God offers us a new start.
On that Easter morning, there were perhaps, even more questions than answers. Mary Magdalene had so much more to learn, and she was no dizzy blonde. The fact that we have questions about Easter does not stop the reality of it being true. And the truth and hope of Easter is believed in, and lived out, 2000 years later by a third of the people in this world. As we say each Sunday. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again….. still alive, still with us, to take us home to be with him for ever.
Servants or friends
Sermon for 17th May 2009 (Acts 10:44-48; John 15:9-17)
A young boy and his doting grandmother were walking along the seashore when a freak wave swept the child out to sea. The horrified woman fell to her knees, raised her eyes to the heavens and begged the Lord to return her beloved grandson. Lo, another wave reared up and deposited the stunned child on the sand before her. The grandmother looked the boy over carefully. He was fine. But still she stared up angrily toward the heavens. "When we came," she snapped indignantly, "he had a hat!"
This sermon is not about hats or miracles but love. Think, to begin with, of love songs you know……. loads of them. It doesn’t matter how many you write, or like one Paul McCartney song, how silly they are, they sell. We look for love, we crave love. Often we confuse it with sex; sometimes we seek it through something like it, respect, (fearing it’s opposite of being ‘dissed’), recognition, having value. For love, women, and now even men, will wear make up, spend a fortune on hair do’s, clothes, beauty treatments, even cosmetic surgery, trying to be someone’s idea of what is acceptable. For love and recognition, men will compete in all sorts of ways to be Pieterson or Button, Pitt or Berlusconi, even fighting or war, or ‘Has Britain got talent’ or worse, the Eurovision song contest.
In the Gospel reading Jesus is talks of a love greater than any other that we can seek, the love of God. Here we see Jesus teaching one of the fundamental lessons of any person’s spiritual walk. It’s a lesson that is incredibly simple in principle but takes a lifetime to understand, particularly if like the Gentiles in the Acts there are reasons to believe that could not be accepted in God’s love.
What’s the context? Jesus is with his disciples at the Last Supper. These are the 11 men who have faithfully followed Jesus for three years through thick and thin (Judas had already left the Supper to betray Jesus). It is these disciples, who have followed as faithful servants, in the heat of the day, the cold of the night, those who have not fallen aside as Jesus’ popularity fell away, or when the threats began, even now when they sensed something terrible was facing them. They had ‘earned their place at the table. They deserved to be there! They had been Jesus’ faithful followers and servants; they had done everything that their Lord and Master had asked of them, even when it seemed impossible, like healing the sick and walking on water! They were great examples of what calls us to be in our service of Christ, whether it’s in the church, our workplace, our home, our neighbourhood - lives totally committed and dedicated to God.
And yet………………
The disciples had so much more to learn about relating to Jesus. They knew him, rightly as Lord and Master. Now he was taking them to the heart of Christianity. God himself has coem amongst us to show us that he does not merely want us as his servants; he wants us his friends. He comes with unconditional love, that the very next day cost him everything, dying on a cross rather than giving up on love, in solidarity with all humanity, changing the world by dying for it. He calls us friends. In a very real way he is making us his equals. God who created the heavens and the earth, has stooped to become human, to raise us to be with him in heaven. He calls us... to love him, and in that love overspilling to love others. At communion, we kneel before our Lord, but also hear the words ‘I love you, my friend; serve this world with me’.
How we do that depends on our circumstances. For 14 years Paula and I have chosen to live in Walsall. Why Walsall??? Why not some nice country parish? Walsall is where God has called us to be, to share his love. When I do ‘mission’ in the workplace, visiting factories, I cannot go to convert people; I would be thrown out. I just listen - unconditional love. I don’t have to think about what I shall say to ‘bring someone to Christ’. I am Christ in the workplace. I can’t preach or evangelise, but sooner or later people ask me why I go there, so I tell them about what I know of the love of Christ, and because I know myself to be loved. And sometimes they want him too! Christ loves the world and I love it with him.
In the forthcoming European elections, I will use my vote and encourage others to use their votes out of love. I cannot give into disillusionment because some MP’s have let themselves get sucked into foolishness and greed over expenses. I cannot but affirm democracy where all, even the weakest, have a voice, have some say in changing this world. I have to use it to keep out extremist parties who claim to follow ‘Christian values’ but preach hatred on the margins of our society.
In my home, in my street, in my workplaces, in my town, I come to bring the same message that Jesus taught his disciples that day. God has called us to be friends as well as servants. He has come to teach us to follow as his servants. And he came down to earth to raise us up to stand alongside him as his friends, changed ultimately to be like God his very self, like our God, who John also tells us, is love.
A young boy and his doting grandmother were walking along the seashore when a freak wave swept the child out to sea. The horrified woman fell to her knees, raised her eyes to the heavens and begged the Lord to return her beloved grandson. Lo, another wave reared up and deposited the stunned child on the sand before her. The grandmother looked the boy over carefully. He was fine. But still she stared up angrily toward the heavens. "When we came," she snapped indignantly, "he had a hat!"
This sermon is not about hats or miracles but love. Think, to begin with, of love songs you know……. loads of them. It doesn’t matter how many you write, or like one Paul McCartney song, how silly they are, they sell. We look for love, we crave love. Often we confuse it with sex; sometimes we seek it through something like it, respect, (fearing it’s opposite of being ‘dissed’), recognition, having value. For love, women, and now even men, will wear make up, spend a fortune on hair do’s, clothes, beauty treatments, even cosmetic surgery, trying to be someone’s idea of what is acceptable. For love and recognition, men will compete in all sorts of ways to be Pieterson or Button, Pitt or Berlusconi, even fighting or war, or ‘Has Britain got talent’ or worse, the Eurovision song contest.
In the Gospel reading Jesus is talks of a love greater than any other that we can seek, the love of God. Here we see Jesus teaching one of the fundamental lessons of any person’s spiritual walk. It’s a lesson that is incredibly simple in principle but takes a lifetime to understand, particularly if like the Gentiles in the Acts there are reasons to believe that could not be accepted in God’s love.
What’s the context? Jesus is with his disciples at the Last Supper. These are the 11 men who have faithfully followed Jesus for three years through thick and thin (Judas had already left the Supper to betray Jesus). It is these disciples, who have followed as faithful servants, in the heat of the day, the cold of the night, those who have not fallen aside as Jesus’ popularity fell away, or when the threats began, even now when they sensed something terrible was facing them. They had ‘earned their place at the table. They deserved to be there! They had been Jesus’ faithful followers and servants; they had done everything that their Lord and Master had asked of them, even when it seemed impossible, like healing the sick and walking on water! They were great examples of what calls us to be in our service of Christ, whether it’s in the church, our workplace, our home, our neighbourhood - lives totally committed and dedicated to God.
And yet………………
The disciples had so much more to learn about relating to Jesus. They knew him, rightly as Lord and Master. Now he was taking them to the heart of Christianity. God himself has coem amongst us to show us that he does not merely want us as his servants; he wants us his friends. He comes with unconditional love, that the very next day cost him everything, dying on a cross rather than giving up on love, in solidarity with all humanity, changing the world by dying for it. He calls us friends. In a very real way he is making us his equals. God who created the heavens and the earth, has stooped to become human, to raise us to be with him in heaven. He calls us... to love him, and in that love overspilling to love others. At communion, we kneel before our Lord, but also hear the words ‘I love you, my friend; serve this world with me’.
How we do that depends on our circumstances. For 14 years Paula and I have chosen to live in Walsall. Why Walsall??? Why not some nice country parish? Walsall is where God has called us to be, to share his love. When I do ‘mission’ in the workplace, visiting factories, I cannot go to convert people; I would be thrown out. I just listen - unconditional love. I don’t have to think about what I shall say to ‘bring someone to Christ’. I am Christ in the workplace. I can’t preach or evangelise, but sooner or later people ask me why I go there, so I tell them about what I know of the love of Christ, and because I know myself to be loved. And sometimes they want him too! Christ loves the world and I love it with him.
In the forthcoming European elections, I will use my vote and encourage others to use their votes out of love. I cannot give into disillusionment because some MP’s have let themselves get sucked into foolishness and greed over expenses. I cannot but affirm democracy where all, even the weakest, have a voice, have some say in changing this world. I have to use it to keep out extremist parties who claim to follow ‘Christian values’ but preach hatred on the margins of our society.
In my home, in my street, in my workplaces, in my town, I come to bring the same message that Jesus taught his disciples that day. God has called us to be friends as well as servants. He has come to teach us to follow as his servants. And he came down to earth to raise us up to stand alongside him as his friends, changed ultimately to be like God his very self, like our God, who John also tells us, is love.
Fishers of Men
Sermon for 25th January (Jonah 3:1-5, Mark 1:14-20)
Both readings today are about ‘repentance’ as challenges to the whole social order, the way we do things, the way things ‘ought to be’. And it’s a challenge especially to the rich, the powerful, those who make the rules for society (and sometimes break those rules), who oppress the poor, the marginal, the weak. It’s a call us to be challengers of society not just in what we say but in our lifestyles. If we say one thing, and live another, it is how we live that speaks loudest.
Let’s begin with the Jonah passage. The whole book of Jonah is a picture of God’s challenge to the rich and powerful oppressors. On one side is the powerless Jonah – all he has is his voice and an ability to listen to God – and a lot of guts! Ninevah was a capital city, but not just any capital; it was the capital city of the brutal Assyrian nation and it’s empire. Ninevah is set in the same fertile plain that Babylon was and with the same natiral resources in food production that Babylon did, allowing each, at different times, to become great empires. The Assyrians did so, through extraordinary cruelty. When they attacked a city, if it did not surrender it’s soldiers would literally be tortured to death after defeat. They took the most important citizens into exile and even uprooted nations to a different land where they would be powerless, not having a land to fight for. And Ninevah was the jewel in the crown of this evil empire. It spoke of riches, oppulence, power, all at the expense of the poor of other nations as well as their own. It’s into this city that Jonah comes, on his own, defenceless, to proclaim God’s judgement.
God’s judgement on the oppressor is less obvious in the Gospel reading. True, it starts off with Jesus taking a message of ‘repentance’. That was continuing the prophetic ministry of John the Baptist after John was arrested. But then it’s calling the four fishermen disciples, Andrew, Peter, James and John.
At this point you may be wondering what the connection is. After all, the usual understanding of Jesus’ call is to be fishers, gatherers of people. This is about evangelism, surely? No it isn’t. What Jesus calls these disciples to be is much more radical than calling people to be just church-goers. It’s a call to follow in the prophetic tradition of Joanah. The image comes from Jeremiah 16:16 where God’s agents of judgement on oppressors are ‘fishermen’. Similarly in Amos 4:1,2 fishers are coming to gather in those ‘who oppress the poor, who crush the needy’. And in Ezekiel 29:4 God himself is the fisherman who will bring judgement on Pharoah and Egypt. So Jesus is calling the disciples into a very radical ministry, continuing the prophetic role of challenging those who want to rule by power, or by wealth or by greed.
Now, this may not have been what you were expecting, and I was a bit surprised, but the Bible does that to us, doesn’t it? When you think you have understood it, a bit more information can change the way we understand a passage just like this one. I was surprised and disturbed by it. But the more I thought about it the more it made sense. After all it fits in with what Jesus did, working amongst the poor, living amongst the poor. Think of the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 and Luke 6: ‘Blessed are the poor, those who are hungry now, who weep now, or more, uncomfortably, the reverse in Luke 6, ‘Woe to those who are rich’, or think of the ‘Magnificat’ Mary song, celebrating the God who raises up the lowly, and brings down the mighty. It’s that tradition of love, with a bias to the poor, that Jesus’ disciples, are called to join in.
So, when Gordon Brown and Alasdair Darling lash rich bankers for awarding themselves more and more bonuses and pay rises, he is acting as a true Christian. When Barak Obama rejects torture and closes Guantanamo Bay he is obeying this call as a disciple- effectively also, I believe, rightly, judging the former administration. When Barak says that the fact the an old woman who struggles to get to the post office to pick up her pension is an issue for him even ‘though she is not his grandmother, he does the same. Bono is at his most Christian when he is involved in ‘Live-Aid’.
When I was speaking out against all who want to promote fascism at the Holocaust memorial event yesterday, I was being a disciple. When you challenge someone to be fair at work or in your social club, to those who have least, you are following in the footsteps of Jesus.
It has to go with lifestyle. Jesus lived what he believed. The disciples followed in same way so that there was none needy among the first church (Acts 4:34) within weeks of Jesus returning to heaven and the Church beginning. He rich gave from their excess so that none should struggle. One of my greatest concerns is that the poorest community who use our church, the ‘Gateway’ club, for those with leaning difficulties continues. In April its present leaders are retiring. There are volunteers but someone will need to take responsibility for it. I would love it if someone from this congregation did.
Jesus calls his disciples to join in a radical tradition and a lifestyle, to live humbly but to be prepared to speak out against injustice, excessive wealth and oppression of the poor. ‘Repent’ he says, think again, turn around, join me, for the sake of those who have the least.
Both readings today are about ‘repentance’ as challenges to the whole social order, the way we do things, the way things ‘ought to be’. And it’s a challenge especially to the rich, the powerful, those who make the rules for society (and sometimes break those rules), who oppress the poor, the marginal, the weak. It’s a call us to be challengers of society not just in what we say but in our lifestyles. If we say one thing, and live another, it is how we live that speaks loudest.
Let’s begin with the Jonah passage. The whole book of Jonah is a picture of God’s challenge to the rich and powerful oppressors. On one side is the powerless Jonah – all he has is his voice and an ability to listen to God – and a lot of guts! Ninevah was a capital city, but not just any capital; it was the capital city of the brutal Assyrian nation and it’s empire. Ninevah is set in the same fertile plain that Babylon was and with the same natiral resources in food production that Babylon did, allowing each, at different times, to become great empires. The Assyrians did so, through extraordinary cruelty. When they attacked a city, if it did not surrender it’s soldiers would literally be tortured to death after defeat. They took the most important citizens into exile and even uprooted nations to a different land where they would be powerless, not having a land to fight for. And Ninevah was the jewel in the crown of this evil empire. It spoke of riches, oppulence, power, all at the expense of the poor of other nations as well as their own. It’s into this city that Jonah comes, on his own, defenceless, to proclaim God’s judgement.
God’s judgement on the oppressor is less obvious in the Gospel reading. True, it starts off with Jesus taking a message of ‘repentance’. That was continuing the prophetic ministry of John the Baptist after John was arrested. But then it’s calling the four fishermen disciples, Andrew, Peter, James and John.
At this point you may be wondering what the connection is. After all, the usual understanding of Jesus’ call is to be fishers, gatherers of people. This is about evangelism, surely? No it isn’t. What Jesus calls these disciples to be is much more radical than calling people to be just church-goers. It’s a call to follow in the prophetic tradition of Joanah. The image comes from Jeremiah 16:16 where God’s agents of judgement on oppressors are ‘fishermen’. Similarly in Amos 4:1,2 fishers are coming to gather in those ‘who oppress the poor, who crush the needy’. And in Ezekiel 29:4 God himself is the fisherman who will bring judgement on Pharoah and Egypt. So Jesus is calling the disciples into a very radical ministry, continuing the prophetic role of challenging those who want to rule by power, or by wealth or by greed.
Now, this may not have been what you were expecting, and I was a bit surprised, but the Bible does that to us, doesn’t it? When you think you have understood it, a bit more information can change the way we understand a passage just like this one. I was surprised and disturbed by it. But the more I thought about it the more it made sense. After all it fits in with what Jesus did, working amongst the poor, living amongst the poor. Think of the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 and Luke 6: ‘Blessed are the poor, those who are hungry now, who weep now, or more, uncomfortably, the reverse in Luke 6, ‘Woe to those who are rich’, or think of the ‘Magnificat’ Mary song, celebrating the God who raises up the lowly, and brings down the mighty. It’s that tradition of love, with a bias to the poor, that Jesus’ disciples, are called to join in.
So, when Gordon Brown and Alasdair Darling lash rich bankers for awarding themselves more and more bonuses and pay rises, he is acting as a true Christian. When Barak Obama rejects torture and closes Guantanamo Bay he is obeying this call as a disciple- effectively also, I believe, rightly, judging the former administration. When Barak says that the fact the an old woman who struggles to get to the post office to pick up her pension is an issue for him even ‘though she is not his grandmother, he does the same. Bono is at his most Christian when he is involved in ‘Live-Aid’.
When I was speaking out against all who want to promote fascism at the Holocaust memorial event yesterday, I was being a disciple. When you challenge someone to be fair at work or in your social club, to those who have least, you are following in the footsteps of Jesus.
It has to go with lifestyle. Jesus lived what he believed. The disciples followed in same way so that there was none needy among the first church (Acts 4:34) within weeks of Jesus returning to heaven and the Church beginning. He rich gave from their excess so that none should struggle. One of my greatest concerns is that the poorest community who use our church, the ‘Gateway’ club, for those with leaning difficulties continues. In April its present leaders are retiring. There are volunteers but someone will need to take responsibility for it. I would love it if someone from this congregation did.
Jesus calls his disciples to join in a radical tradition and a lifestyle, to live humbly but to be prepared to speak out against injustice, excessive wealth and oppression of the poor. ‘Repent’ he says, think again, turn around, join me, for the sake of those who have the least.
And it was good
Sermon for Epiphany 1, 11th January (Genesis 1: 1-5; Mark 1:4-11)
After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing he said was "DON'T!" "Don't what?" Adam replied. "Don't eat the forbidden fruit." God said. "Forbidden fruit? We have forbidden fruit? Hey Eve.. we have forbidden fruit" "No Way!" "Yes we do!" "Do NOT eat the fruit! " said God. "Why?" "Because I am your Father and I said so!" God replied, wondering why He hadn't stopped creation after making the elephants. A few minutes later, God saw His children having an apple break and He was not happy! "Didn't I tell you not to eat the fruit? " God asked. "Ye….es" Adam replied. "Then why did you? " said the Father. "I don't know," said Eve. "She started it!" Adam said. "Did not! " "Did" "DID NOT! " God's punishment was that Adam and Eveshould have children of their own. So the pattern was set and it has never changed.
But there is hope in this story. If you have persistently and lovingly tried to give children wisdom and
they haven't taken it, don't be hard on yourself. If God had trouble raising children, what makes you think it would easy for you?
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT!
1. You spend the first two years teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next sixteen telling them to sit down and be quiet. 2. Parents of teens now know why some animals eat their young.
3. Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.
4. The main point of children's parties is to remind yourself that there are children more awful than your own.
Be nice to your children. They will choose your nursing home one day.
Today is all about God’s Creation. It’s not intended as a scientific account. Its roughly in the order science tells us it happened, but it tells a lot about how we relate to God and to his Creation. It does not start at the beginning as science shows us now. There’s no big-bang in this account (although that is in one of the Psalms); there’s not creation of the planets or solar systems – it goes straight to earth, as earth is forming – it’s still a ‘formless void’ (vs2) in space –the Spirit hovered over the waters, and no suns
Day 1: God created stars. Stars were always there; they came much later and amongst all the stars, God created one for the universe as we see it, our solar system, so we have light and heat. It was good.
Day 2: God created the weather and land: Water began to form, an atmosphere developed. Without that atmosphere we would have a planet like the moon, no atmosphere, just darkness beyond. We have sky (blue, grey, red sometimes even green) and clouds. Weather means plants can grow. Weather means water. As the earth cooled and solidified and moved, the sea condenses, and earthquakes thrust mountains from the seabed - land appears, leaving deep troughs - oceans. And it was good.
Day 3: God created plants: Now this is the bit that no science has ever really explained. Even my Michael with his Cambridge Biology degree cannot explain how life appeared – it just did. Somehow the carbon in the ground came together to produce living matter – algae, mosses, plants, trees, and the earth begins to produce oxygen. And DNA allows these plants to reproduce themselves And it was good.
Day 4: God created night and day: Remember this is not a scientific account, for the stars were already there. But the nearest star creates light and heat for us all day long. The Moon, the nearest planet even reflects some of that light for us at night, as do the starts to a lesser extent. But it suggests an ordering of our weather to the point where animals can survive. And it was good.
Day 5&6. God created living creatures: Amoebae, become fish and whales, become amphibians, became the first land animals, dinosaurs come and go, animals coem next including dogs like Sparky. Our world is almost finished. The icing on the cake if humankind – you and me. And it was good.
Day 7. God had a day off: God rested and so should we.
The Creation story is not scientific; it’s a story with a point, or more than one point. It tells us:
i) God created and we are the ones he created. We owe him everything
ii) God has provided everything we need – all we need to do it is learn to share it
iii) Every part of creation is good, and loved and valuable, not just us. We should treat all plants and animals with respect, even the planet as the environmental crisis has shown us.
Genesis 1 is not a scientific account; it tells us about our relationship with God and tells us about our partnership with God in looking after this planet and sharing out all God has freely give to us.
After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing he said was "DON'T!" "Don't what?" Adam replied. "Don't eat the forbidden fruit." God said. "Forbidden fruit? We have forbidden fruit? Hey Eve.. we have forbidden fruit" "No Way!" "Yes we do!" "Do NOT eat the fruit! " said God. "Why?" "Because I am your Father and I said so!" God replied, wondering why He hadn't stopped creation after making the elephants. A few minutes later, God saw His children having an apple break and He was not happy! "Didn't I tell you not to eat the fruit? " God asked. "Ye….es" Adam replied. "Then why did you? " said the Father. "I don't know," said Eve. "She started it!" Adam said. "Did not! " "Did" "DID NOT! " God's punishment was that Adam and Eveshould have children of their own. So the pattern was set and it has never changed.
But there is hope in this story. If you have persistently and lovingly tried to give children wisdom and
they haven't taken it, don't be hard on yourself. If God had trouble raising children, what makes you think it would easy for you?
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT!
1. You spend the first two years teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next sixteen telling them to sit down and be quiet. 2. Parents of teens now know why some animals eat their young.
3. Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.
4. The main point of children's parties is to remind yourself that there are children more awful than your own.
Be nice to your children. They will choose your nursing home one day.
Today is all about God’s Creation. It’s not intended as a scientific account. Its roughly in the order science tells us it happened, but it tells a lot about how we relate to God and to his Creation. It does not start at the beginning as science shows us now. There’s no big-bang in this account (although that is in one of the Psalms); there’s not creation of the planets or solar systems – it goes straight to earth, as earth is forming – it’s still a ‘formless void’ (vs2) in space –the Spirit hovered over the waters, and no suns
Day 1: God created stars. Stars were always there; they came much later and amongst all the stars, God created one for the universe as we see it, our solar system, so we have light and heat. It was good.
Day 2: God created the weather and land: Water began to form, an atmosphere developed. Without that atmosphere we would have a planet like the moon, no atmosphere, just darkness beyond. We have sky (blue, grey, red sometimes even green) and clouds. Weather means plants can grow. Weather means water. As the earth cooled and solidified and moved, the sea condenses, and earthquakes thrust mountains from the seabed - land appears, leaving deep troughs - oceans. And it was good.
Day 3: God created plants: Now this is the bit that no science has ever really explained. Even my Michael with his Cambridge Biology degree cannot explain how life appeared – it just did. Somehow the carbon in the ground came together to produce living matter – algae, mosses, plants, trees, and the earth begins to produce oxygen. And DNA allows these plants to reproduce themselves And it was good.
Day 4: God created night and day: Remember this is not a scientific account, for the stars were already there. But the nearest star creates light and heat for us all day long. The Moon, the nearest planet even reflects some of that light for us at night, as do the starts to a lesser extent. But it suggests an ordering of our weather to the point where animals can survive. And it was good.
Day 5&6. God created living creatures: Amoebae, become fish and whales, become amphibians, became the first land animals, dinosaurs come and go, animals coem next including dogs like Sparky. Our world is almost finished. The icing on the cake if humankind – you and me. And it was good.
Day 7. God had a day off: God rested and so should we.
The Creation story is not scientific; it’s a story with a point, or more than one point. It tells us:
i) God created and we are the ones he created. We owe him everything
ii) God has provided everything we need – all we need to do it is learn to share it
iii) Every part of creation is good, and loved and valuable, not just us. We should treat all plants and animals with respect, even the planet as the environmental crisis has shown us.
Genesis 1 is not a scientific account; it tells us about our relationship with God and tells us about our partnership with God in looking after this planet and sharing out all God has freely give to us.
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