Irenaeus–Thursday 28 June 2012

Thursday midweek Holy Communion at St Giles

Gospel Matthew 7.21-29

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Each of us has two sets of beliefs. One is what we say. The other is what we do. In order to discover what we truly believe, instead of listening to the words we use, you get a better indication from examining our behaviours.

For example, we may say we always avoid falsehood and hold the truth dear, but we may then go on to tell a lie if by doing so we gain an advantage.

Often we delude ourselves. We are convinced by what we think we believe, but in reality our actions do not line up with our words.

Here at the end of the Sermon on the Mount is a stern warning. It concerns our eligibility to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Are we people who are convinced we are saved by what we say we believe? Or are we able to demonstrate our faith by showing we have done the will of God throughout our lives?

Jesus says:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

This is the explanation of the parable that follows. The Man who built his house on a sure foundation. He was the one whose house was securely rooted. He did what he said. He took the trouble to ensure permanence.

The other man’s house looked the same from the outside. He probably said the same things, and even believed he did the will of God. But his house was not securely founded. Temptation, adversity, unsound doctrine, and challenges to his faith left him fatally weakened. His house was swept away. His words were as fine as the appearance of his house, but they lacked a secure foundation.

So it is with us – this parable challenges us to examine our faith, and ask ourselves whether we sound good, or whether we really are that way. Does the way we live our lives match the way we act?

Remember the story of the lamp stand? Does our light shine out, or is it concealed from others’ view?

You are the light of the world:
no one after lighting a lamp puts it under a basket but on the lamp stand and it gives light to all.

Paul’s unwavering hope

Cheddington 10 June 2012

Reading 2 Corinthians 4.13-5.1

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Sermon

Young – slightest illness causes worry. Concerns highlighted because everything normally works well. Body heals itself quickly. Signs of age not long in coming. Aches and pains become more common, whereas if we were young we may have sought medical advice. In older age, these things are always in the background.

Life expectancy has been rising throughout my lifetime. It has gone up by 9 years since I was a teenager. The search for longevity seems right and proper when you are young. When you get older, to be told you will live on into 90’s may be less welcome. Operation – longer lifespan not what I wanted to hear.

One of saddest aspects of new atheism is they have no hope for the future. What happens after you die? Oblivion. Never to meet loved ones again. No thought of eternity or resurrection. Just nothing beyond the grave.

Paul lays out alternative clearly in letter to Corinthians. Paul shows his profound faith in God’s power to save. God is a God who can defeat death itself. God is a God who chooses mere mortals to reveal his divine glory here on earth. What then are the sufferings of this present age, when such a hope of glory beckons from beyond the curtain we pass through called death?

Paul himself is no stranger to suffering. We don’t know what was the thorn in his side, but he refers to a severe affliction elsewhere in the same letter. The apostle also recounts beatings, imprisonment, shipwreck and other near death experiences which he suffered for his faith. Just before this passage comes a catalogue of human frailty. All of these hardships, Paul says, prove that “death is at work within us.”

This situation is not permanent. Outwardly, what is visible in our bodies is that we are wasting away. Spiritually as well as physically. Inwardly, though, we are being renewed day by day. The troubles we experience are momentary and light, when compared to the hope of eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, rather than look down on what we see in our bodies, we can look up to what is unseen. For what is visible is temporary. But what is invisible is permanent and eternal. And this hope is that this same God “who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us ... in his presence.”

Underlying this passage, and indeed the whole of II Corinthians is the certainty Paul has that what he describes will come true. This vision extends from the empty tomb, the very heart of our Christian faith, without which our belief is as nothing. So it matters less and less that we age and become more frail, because what is really important is the permanent hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ. I like the simple image Paul shows us. It’s like our present existence on this earth is in a tent. Tents are fragile. They are buffeted by the winds. They let in water. They don’t stand up to the elements. Tents are no more than temporary structures. No matter – because we have a permanent building that is from God. An eternal house in heaven. One not built with human hands.

This age says Paul is passing away. Our citizenship is no longer on earth. Our citizenship is in heaven. This is why Paul calls the church to think in terms of God’s new kingdom – a place where death is swallowed up by life – not this time an extension of our earthly existence where we continue to suffer more aches and pains – but a permanent life with Christ in the new Kingdom of God.

Amidst real hardships and suffering, Paul expresses hope in God’s work to redeem and to transform.  The threat of hardship would be enough to drive most believers away, but Paul will stop at nothing to be a bearer of the gospel to others.  For he knows that the God who is at work in his mortal body is the same God who resurrected Jesus from the dead.   It is in this God whom, like Paul, we can place our unwavering hope.

Amen

Thanksgiving for Holy Communion

Thursday 7 June 2012 – Corpus Christi at St Giles

Reading 1 Corinthians 11.23-26

I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Gospel John 6.51-58

Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord.
Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever. John 6.51
Alleluia.

When the Gospel is announced the reader says

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live for ever.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Corpus Christi means body of Christ. Feast on Thursday after Trinity. Like Trinity, does not celebrate any particular event, but in our church is now known as Day of Thanksgiving for Holy Communion.

Institution of Eucharist celebrated on Maundy Thursday. This is actual event. Last Supper. Washing of Feet. New commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. So today, the feast day focuses solely on Communion without other events.

Holy Communion – what is happening – how we regard it in our worship – differs markedly for everyone. For some, it is a regular rehearsing of the last hours of Jesus’ life on earth, according to his command Do this in remembrance of me. For others it has a much more sacramental significance. For all, the Eucharist stands at the centre of our worship. It is regular, unlike for example Baptism which is a single event.

So the first reason for regular Communion is that Jesus told us to observe it. We are remembering Jesus, and all he did for us in his life, death and resurrection. At the same time, we take the opportunity of examining ourselves, making sure we are right with God and our neighbours before approaching and sharing in the meal.

The names we use vary according to our tradition – Eucharist, Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, Mass – but in this church most commonly the word communion reminds us we are participating in the body of Christ, which is the church and all Christian people. His life becomes our life. There is one loaf that is broken for us, but although we are many we are one because we all share the one bread and the one cup.

Lastly, communion is a statement of faith. We are proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes again. So this is what is going on as we prepare ourselves for the Eucharist and approach the altar. Each week afresh, despite the risk of staleness through familiarity. Listening anew to the words, and not just allowing the language to wash over us, but to retain its significance and meaning in our lives. Amen

The Power of the Trinity

Cheddington – Trinity Sunday – 3 June 2012

Reading Romans 8.12-17

Brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Gospel John 3.1-17

Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
one God, who was, and who is, and who is to come,
the Almighty.
Alleluia.

When the Gospel is announced the reader says

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No-one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

In the past – many Trinitarian illustrations. One in 3 – 3 in One. Clover leaf. Meat and 2 veg! Ice, water, steam. Apart from showing all persons of Trinity are the same, how do these advance our understanding? Good for children – fully formed Christians require more.

Paul’s language is Trinitarian. Does not focus on doctrine or illustration. Dives right in with a problem. What about our sinful nature? How come it constantly gets the better of us? How can we stop living according to our sinful nature, and live as children of God and heirs of the promise of salvation?

Paul skips over niceties of doctrine and proclaims good news of the gospel into the nitty gritty of realities of trying to live the Christian life as we experience day in day out. This is the fundamental dilemma: the power of sin, dwelling within us, prevents us through our own efforts alone doing what is good and right, despite our best intentions.

According to Paul, the solution to this human dilemma is the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

It all sounds very easy, doesn’t it? All we have to do is open ourselves up to the life-giving power of God’s Spirit. We all know it isn’t that straightforward – but it could be.

Nicodemus who at first ‘came to Jesus by night’ never got a chance to explain why he came, or ask a question. Jesus told him he must be born again – born of the Spirit this time. Then Jesus half mocked him when he failed to understand.

The trouble is, temptation is ever present and it’s a powerful and subtle force. Personalise it if you will. The old fashioned 7 Deadly Sins have been replaced with a myriad of sin’s systematic manifestations in modern life. Is it any wonder that most people feel powerless and overwhelmed by its insistent clutches? Like many forms of addiction, many people don’t realise how trapped they are in the grip of such forces.

It’s just like the early days of the Blackberry. We all thought these devices were a wonderful gift and vied to be given one. Only when we got one did we discover it was a ball and chain. We had become enslaved to work. We were available 24 hours a day, and on holiday too in any part of the world.

Once you’ve got a mobile device, it’s almost impossible to give it back. Paul does not see things that way. God’s desire that we receive the true life that God so willingly offers to all, he says. Life is yours! That is a powerful promise, affirmed many times through Paul's letters and again in our passage: if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

The resurrection promise is not for Jesus alone. It is for all of us who are in Christ. No one is so dead to sin that the power of God’s Spirit cannot bring them back to fullness of life.

As Nicodemus was told no one can enter the Kingdom unless they have been born again of the Spirit. Adoption into God’s family as children of God is brought about through the Spirit. The spirit of adoption, through which we become daughters and sons of the Father. Abba is an incredibly personal name for one’s dad. Hardly credible anyone might us it of the Almighty God, who was not even named throughout the Old Testament. A wonderful and mysterious promise indeed.

When words fail us, as we read elsewhere in Romans, the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. As many adoptive parents will attest, such children and loved just as much as those born to the family in the usual way.

Even more staggering is the claim Paul puts forward that through adoption we become co-heirs with Christ. Christ is a joint heir with us: he suffers and is glorified, and we suffer and are glorified with him. What happens to Christ – his resurrection life - happens to us; the glory that is Christ’s - as God's son - belongs to us as well who have become God's children.

Where else is this made clearer than in John 3:16. First Bible verse I ever learned. Perhaps the best known in whole of Scripture. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Amen